The Origins of Simon and Other Adventures
by Captain Tammo
Summary: Leonardo Velox Williams is leading his crew of sailors on a chase that has lasted nearly twenty seasons. Initially spearheading a fruitless search against the elusive Dakunda, terror of the high seas, Leonardo has shifted his crew's focus and is now after the villain's successor and son, a wicked corsair named Deamal the Menace!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hello, welcome to my fanfiction! I know there are a lot of these to browse through, so thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my work. With the crazy number of Redwall fics out there, I figured I'd tell you a bit about what I think makes this one stand out in the community. Call it arrogant if you want, but you'll have to take my word that my only goal here is to get you interested.

* * *

 **Notable Achievements and awards**

This fanfiction is in the possession by the Jacques family (sent through the official publisher in November, 2015)

+17,000 total views on the official Redwall Abbey Forum ( )

Grand Prize Winner of the fist ever official Redwall Abbey Forum Fanfiction Contest (Summer, 2011. )

Winner of the "Best Fanfiction" Award in the Redwall Abbey Forum Fanfiction Awards Contest (Summer, 2015. )

Story has been _fully_ proof-read multiple times (hey, I consider that an accomplishment!)

 **Praise for** ** _The Origins of Simon and Other Adventures_** **(by Redwall Abbey Forum members)**

"Hands down the best fan-fiction I've ever read."

"Wow. That is great."

"I loved this story; it was hard to _not_ finish. Great plot, wonderful characters... and a satisfying final battle."

"Amazing"

"It has promise far beyond any other fanfiction on here"

"It was awesome! Very good! Hope you've got more fanfictions in store for us."

"Out of all the fanfiction I've read, this one is the closest in tone and plot to the original canon books."

"In a word: epic."

That's enough from me. Don't want to make this post too crowded. Let me know if you enjoy the story! Feedback's always welcome... 

* * *

**PART I:**

 **THE ORIGINS OF SIMON**

 **AND**

 **THE VOW OF THE MAD CAPTAIN  
**

 **Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful ship, the result of an uncountable number of hours put in from several creatures to make it the caravel it was that day. True, the _Seaspark_ was slightly smaller than the average vessel, but nevertheless, it was a sign of security and safety among the good and gentle beasts of the Western Sea. Be that as it may, it was a much different story for vermin seafarers. To them, the sight of the so-called cursed vessel was like that of a foul omen. It brought about with it a sense of terror that chilled even the seawater, for the _Seaspark_ was a privateer. Having been built entirely for the purpose of hunting down a villain that had destroyed many families, the survivors of which being the very crew of the ship itself, the _Seaspark_ roamed the world in a never-ending hunt. Legends spoke of the vessel and its reputation of mercilessness among corsair crews. It was headed by a captain that was said to never rest and a crew that thirsted for revenge. It existed as the sort of thing that the common searat would hope to be just a nightmare. For the unlucky, those nightmares were more real than they suspected...

Captain Leonardo Velox Williams was tall for a mouse. His long, red military coatee, a gift given to him by a wayfaring trader he had saved many seasons prior, hung down to his neatly shined boots. A dagger, which fit more like a short sword, hung delicately at his side along with a sharpened hatchet. His large blue eyes missed nothing. Every square inch on the ship was old news to him. Nineteen seasons he had been scouring the seas with his faithful crew by his side, hunting down a forsaken ship now led by the sinister Deamal the Menace. Leonardo stood behind the wheel of his ship, the _Seaspark_ and looked at his working crew. Every one of them were loyal sailors ever faithful to their cause, in his eyes. He turned to the sea and watched the gulls fly overhead and get lifted by the salty wind. The wide waters stretched in all directions until it met the sky. Many times it felt like the ship sailed in the clouds rather than water. The _Seaspark_ truly was a vessel to behold, it glided across the water like no other vessel among the seas, cleaving the waves like it was a hot knife cutting butter. The sun hung in the sky like a white medallion and a single cloud drifted lazily across the sky with the westerly breeze. It was a perfect day. That is until the black sails peaked over the horizon.

"Spotted it captain! Port side." Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock, a tall hare and also first mate of the ship, yelled down to Leonardo from one of the ratlines. Dassiter was a tough creature. He and the captain had always been good friends and had shared many adventures. He wore a long coatee that was similar to Leonardo's, but navy in color. A black sash with a long cutlass hung closely at his side. It was an unlikely choice for a hare, especially one from Salamandastron, the great mountain fortress of the long patrol[1]. Unlike the other military hares, Dassiter did not share their accent. Instead, he spoke as you and I would, which was rare among this crew. They were an oddball bunch of creatures, all from different islands and corners of the map. They all spoke with different voices and jargon, even some different tongues entirely!

The tall hare climbed further up the ratlines until he was standing near the top of the main mast.

"Are you sure it's the sea rats?" Called Leonardo.

"Positive, sir! No merchant vessel sports black sails like that."

"And they didn't spot us earlier?"

"I doubt it, captain, awaiting your command."

"Excellent, Mr. Tussock! Gather the crew and issue orders for everybeast to prepare the ship for battle! I'm guessing we'll catch it early this afternoon." The _Seaspark_ glided forward into the wind with its triangular sails. Once more, it was on the hunt.

* * *

Aboard the searat vessel _Redworm_ , the lookout, a rat named Wearul, was scanning the horizon when he spotted sails on the far horizon.

"Ey, Scoffgut! Sails spotted off the starboard side towards the stern!"

"What did I tell you about calling me by name, rat! I'll have yer hide fer that, it's _captain_ to you! What kind o' vessel is it, merchants?" Scolded the captain, a massively fat searat named Scoffgut. He wore a large cloak and an even bigger pair of boots. His belt strained to hold back his great stomach and hold up his striped trousers. He carried nothing more than a rusted sword in his belt and a bottle of grog in his paw that he drank from constantly. In the center of the belt was a huge brass buckle in the shape of a hare's skull. He had a large nose ring and half of one of his ears was gone. To top it all off, Scoffgut was heavily tattooed from head to toe, not an inch of un-inked fur showed.

The lookout peered through the spyglass again, squinting to see the vessel's type before calling back to the captain,"It's uh, one o' those ships with the triangle sails."

"Well, that doesn't mean anythin' to me! I said what kind o' vessel is it and that's an order!"

Having not the slightest clue how to classify ships, Wearul made up his own class. "It's one o' them, um, new gold schleppers! Maybe they still have some onboard!"

"Of course it is, ye stupid oaf! I could see that even from here, what good are you, anyhow! Turn this hunk o' crud around and prepare for battle!"

As the ships neared, the crew of the _Redworm_ stood about on the deck with their weapons in their paws and fidgeted eagerly in anticipation to get their paws on the gold Wearul talked about. As they neared closer, another rat by the name of Scrupp jabbed Wearul in the ribs with his elbow and asked, "What's the name o' the ship, anyway? Maybe it belongs to a prince er somethin'!"

Wearul was quickly realizing that he had not played his cards too right and it was going to bite him in the tail if he was not going to be able to explain to Scoffgut where all of the 'gold' was. Scrupp elbowed him again, "Agh! I don't know where the gold is!" He blurted out. Scrupp looked at him like he had four heads,

"What're ye talkin' 'bout Wearul? All I wanted t' know was what the name o' the stinkin' ship was! An' you know I don't read squiggles."

"Er, right, I know... Jus' gimme a minute to check!" The rat leaned over the rail of the ship and peered through his spyglass. He could see creatures going about their business as if they had not even seen the _Redworm_. As he focused in on the bow of the ship, he suddenly froze. His mouth went dry as he checked the name and checked again. He heard Scrupp ask him his question again and he looked at him and tried to find something to say.

"You okay, mate, ye arn't lookin' too good? Er, Wearul?"

Wearul stood on the deck as if it had grown into his feet. It was like a bad dream come to life. Finally, he managed to stammer out an excuse, "I... I forgot somethin' in my bunk!" and ran down to the lower deck, leaving a very puzzled Scrupp with a spyglass in his paws.

* * *

Captain Williams was a bit surprised to see that the enemy ship had turned and charged them. He leaned to the ship's musician, an otter called Siri Luna, and gestured to the oncoming ship. He spoke to her in the tribal language of her kind, "Toka mah la suda mi happa happa. Dey la paw offila, eh?"

The otter laughed hard before answering, "Sikanu nok' rannawa murkalanamit!" The pair laughed and resumed their chores.

The crew of the _Redworm_ was well armed and heavily populated. They had war-paint covering their faces and teeth filed to points. The crew of the _Seaspark_ appeared completely unprepared by comparison. The two ships floated next to each other almost lazily. Captain Williams stood on the ship's rail and looked from his ship to the other. He could see the grin's on the pirate's faces underneath their warpaint. A fat rat stepped out of the crowd and pointed a rusty sword at him,

"Mouse, I'm Scoffgut, captain o' this mighty ship. Send forth your captain."

"I am him." He replied, "Spit out what you need to say. Quickly now, I have a busy schedule to keep."

The rat was slightly taken aback. He waved his sword at the other ship. "Big words for such a tiny mouse, we'll see how tough ye are with a blade in yer neck! I'm taking your gold, and don't pretend you don't have any, I know a gold schlepper when I sees it..."

"Captain." A rat whispered from behind Scoffgut.

"Quiet you!" He murmured. Turning back to the other vessel, he continued, "You were foolish to follow my ship. Too bad ye won't live long enough to regret it!"

"You destroyed a village of innocent creatures, I saw the wreckage myself! I am here in place of them to put an end to you." Replied Leonardo.

"Captain!" The rat whispered, more urgently this time.

"I said shut it!" Scoffgut mumbled back. "Those creatures were weak, you don't stand a chance against us. We outnumber you at least three to one, surrender now or I'll kill you all!"

"Captain!" The rat said. This was the last straw for Scoffgut, who turned about and thrust his rusty sword against the rat's neck.

"What is it?!" He said angrily. The rat swallowed hard before answering,

"The name, cap'n. The name o' the ship!"

Scoffgut wheeled about and looked at the bow of the ship across him and read its name: _Seaspark_. Terror gripped him by his neck. Scoffgut could feel his breath get ripped away from him. The rest of the crew that knew how to read found themselves in similar conditions. Scoffgut looked at the mouse captain standing on his ship's rail. "The Prince o' Privateers…" he said with an astounded whisper. Leonardo returned his stunned stare with narrow eyes and an angry glare. He did not have to say a word for him to get the message loud and clear.

* * *

It was complete chaos among the crew of the _Redworm_. They did not stand a chance even though they outnumbered the _Seaspark_ by great amounts. Captain Williams was fighting next to first mate Dassiter. They conversed like they had done many times as they blocked and slashed, parried and stabbed.

"Watch out for that one, oh good swing pal!"

"Heads up! We got a wiseass swinging from a rope."

Sidestepping skillfully at the last second, Dassiter and Leonardo cut the attacker's rope, but the momentum kept it going and threw it through the _Redworm_ 's rail.

"Who's filling in for the cook tonight?"

"Let us see, Monday, Tuesday… I believe Gorm is on duty."

"Ugh, again?! Leo, he's the worst cook on the ship! I'm surprised we even let him near the kitchen at all– Look out! Nice shot."

"Thank you, s'all in the wrist, y' see. I wouldn't say _worst_! He told me he's trying something new this time: fish surprise!" Leonardo said, throwing his ax at a rat with a bow.

"Oh, that's just _perfect_. Just what we need after a long battle!"

"Chin up my friend, I bet you'll love it!"

After the brawl aboard the _Redworm_ had ended, Leonardo found his ax and swung back aboard his ship, patting himself down to be sure that there was not anything he was forgetting. A pretty mousemaid approached him from the stern, "We're all aboard captain, counted everybeast twice and awaiting your orders."

"Thank you, Miss Bellus. Any wounded?"

"Not more than a couple of scratches, sir."

"Food supply?"

"A couple of day's worth."

"And fresh water?"

"Almost out. We're nearly scraping the bottom of the barrels."

"Has the crew searched the ship for anything of use?"

"Yes captain."

"And?..."

"A little loot and a barrel of grog."

Leonardo nodded to himself and looked at the _Redworm_ , speaking his thoughts aloud, "Sink it, don't burn it. We'll stop at Amijowi Isle to get some more water. Food, too. Then we'll need to do any repairs necessary, especially after the storm two nights back..." He looked up at the pretty mouse's face and smiled, "We'll use the rams. You can take the lead for the operation."

She returned his smile before walking away and repeating Leonardo's orders in a booming voice "Ram operators are to report below deck!"

Within a short while, two hatches on the port side of the ship opened up, revealing two large rams kept below the main deck. The _Seaspark_ was unique in the fact that it had rams onboard. They were made of sturdy oak wood and each held a spiked metal cap sticking from either end. They were perfect for making an escape, or in this case, sinking a vessel. They were located on the cargo deck of the ship, just above the steerage, with one ram towards the center of the ship and the other towards the stern. Dassiter Tussock controlled the operation below deck. Crewbeasts moved any and all pieces of loose cargo to the port side of the ship and the rest of the crew above deck positioned their weight to the port side of the ship. The resulting shift in weight was enough to lean the _Seaspark_ ever so slightly towards the waterline of the _Redworm_. It would not be enough to capsize the _Seaspark_ by any means, but it would make the rams more effective. By striking the enemy ship at a slight downward angle, it increased the likelihood of doing more damage to the ship hull and avoiding simply pushing it away.

The mousemaid Bellus stood on the stairs between decks relaying messages and yelling out orders between the lower and main deck, "Is the top crew ready?" Bellus yelled out

"Aye, we're ready, awaiting your orders."

"Bottom crew ready?"

The voice that answered was Dassiter's, "We're ready!"

Bellus smiled. Then, roaring out so all could hear her, she said, "Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three, now!"

There was a resounding crash as both rams hit the hull of the _Redworm_ , putting two massive holes in its side right on the waterline. Bellus continued, "Okay top crew, reposition the ship. Bottom crew, pull in the rams, steady now!" The caravel evened out and the rams were pulled in and tied down.

Bellus inspected the _Redworm_. Satisfied with the job, she turned to Leonardo, "Mission complete, captain."

Leonardo looked over the edge of the ship at the _Redworm_. Water was already filling the two newly formed pockets. "Good work, my dear! She'll be under within minutes."

Still looking at the hull of the ship, in one of the two shaded openings, Leonardo spotted a creature stirring about. Apparently, one of the pirates had survived the fight. Smiling, Captain Williams quickly ordered, "Get that rat up here, now! I have some questions for him."

A gargantuan creature (who was said to be part badger due to his size[2]) stepped forward. This was Marius Colossus, an otter from the Kingdom of Southsward, a region far to the south of Mossflower Country. Marius was picked up as the soul survivor of a coastal raid only a few seasons after Leonardo and Dassiter set out on their hunt. He was the strongbeast in a traveling circus that was performing on the coast. When the pirates came, Marius was shot with several arrows, but even still he never fell. It was often said among the crew that it would take a mountain falling down on him to kill Marius. None doubted it.

"Where's the one you want?" Said Marius' deep bass voice. The captain pointed overboard at the rat and Marius quickly grabbed a rope, tied it about his waist and vaulted over the rail of the ship. Swimming up to the _Redworm_ 's hull, he entered the sinking ship and gave the rat a large whack on the head to knock it unconscious. Then, as if without needing any effort, Marius hauled them both back onto the _Seaspark_.

Leonardo instructed the otter what to do, "Put 'im in the brig. Post a sentry and come and tell me when he comes around. I'll be in my quarters."

"Captain, should we set course for anywhere?" said Dassiter.

Leonardo turned to the first mate and replied, "Set course for Amijowi Isle. We'll stop there for supplies, we should make it there by tomorrow evening. Let's go under half sail, there's no major rush. But I want this ship cleaned up, it's always a mess after dealing with searats."

"Aye, sir!" replied Dassiter, turning to the crew, he yelled out orders, "Set course for Amijowi Isle! Travel under half sail, batten down the rams and stow the grappling hooks, this ship is going to be spotless, get moving!" Turning back to Leonardo he said, "What's wrong mate? You don't look too good."

The captain had a strange look to him; his face was pale. His normally blue eyes clouded like a fog over the sea; his weariness was clear. Dassiter quickly ushered him into his quarters, closing and locking the door behind him as they entered. Leonardo slumped down in his chair before his map covered desk with his head in his paws.

Dassiter leaned against the wall and said what was clear, "You need to sleep."

"No, I need to find this ship..." Leonardo replied and he poured himself a drink.

"Captain, we've scoured almost every part of this ocean looking for a ship we don't even know exists anymore! We've destroyed enough ships to fill Salamandastron two times over and you want us to keep going after this thing?! Face it, it doesn't exist. Look at your maps," Dassiter walked over to the desk and started going through the 'X' covered charts that were stacked on Leonardo's desk, "Rudderang, Sampetra, Green Isle, where the queen herself said the ship hasn't been spotted in _years_ , the lands of ice and snow, the great Southern sea, Terramort, Peace island, we've gone so far west, if we went any farther we would've run into the setting sun! Now we did find a wreck at the twin islands and I told you it could've been what you were looking for but you insisted it was—"

"It said _Sayna_!" interrupted the captain, clearing the maps from the desk with an angry swipe.

"There were other wrecks there too Leo, _Sayna_ was not the only one!"

"They were too small to be Deamal's!"

"Well, we've looked everywhere else! The trail's gone cold, Leo! It went cold seasons ago!" he paused for a moment, "What makes you so sure were gonna find it?"

The captain was silent for what seemed like several minutes, then admitted, "I'm not."

"Then why do you keep this up? You're driving yourself mad and haven't eaten or slept in days!"

Standing up, the captain leaned over the desk, getting closer to the first mate with every word until their faces were almost touching, "I'm not going to go back home until I am without a doubt certain that Deamal and his whole cursed crew are rotting at the bottom of the sea with my knife stuck in his gut!"

There was a knock at the door, a voice called in, "Captain, the prisoner has come about."

Leonardo made his way to the door and stopped to put on his coatee. Before exiting the room, he turned back to Dassiter, who leaned against the desk with crossed arms, and said, "Now you've been a friend of mine for as long as I can remember, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you get in my way." Slamming the door behind him, Leonardo stormed out of the room.

* * *

[1] The Long Patrol: a group of hares that serve as the armed patrol of Mossflower Country. They hail from the mountain fortress of Salamandastron on the west coast of Mossflower country and have protected the land from invaders for generations.

[2] Badgers are a very rare, nearly mythical species in the world of Redwall. They are notable for their towering size and strong military prowess. Badgers commonly rule from the mountain fortress, Salamandastron, on the west coast of Mossflower country and are referred to as "Badger Lords".


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Several leagues away over the vast expanses of the ocean, off the Northern coast headed south towards the region Southsward, a large galleon named _Fenero_ cut through the waves. A young sea otter named Maximus Mossly paced around on the forecastle deck with his face wrinkled into a nervous look. Unlike every other otter, Maximus hated sailing. The only reason he had left his home with the traders this season was because he wanted to move away from the cold northern coast and live in the south where the weather was warm and the food was plentiful. He kept glancing to the southern horizon where black thunderheads were forming. The thought of getting caught in a storm made him feel sick. However, he knew he'd have to get used to such conditions whether he liked it or not. The trip from the high north coast to the Kingdom of Southsward was no small journey. He knew it would take several weeks, especially since there was no hurry for the traders to get there. Earlier, Maximus had told the captain of the storm ahead with a voice that he hoped sounded as un-panicked as possible. The captain merely nodded. Now he tensely watched the storm sweep towards them with his stomach tied in a knot.

Suddenly a squirrel leaped down from the foremast and landed next to him. Maximus jumped with a start by the squirrel's sudden appearance. Quickly trying to hide his awkward reaction, he noticed the squirrel looked roughly his age; about fifteen seasons old.

"Hi!" he said, "I saw you were coming with us this season so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Raoul Heavytail."

"I'm Maximus Mossly," he replied simply.

"You look worried Maximus, are you homesick?"

Somewhat offended by the question, Maximus replied sharply, "No! I'm glad I left that place. I wasn't happy there; the weather was horrible, there was never anything to eat, and I was getting sick of the seeing the same faces."

"I understand..." after an awkward moment of silence he said, "What's that on you back?"

Maximus took a long item wrapped in cloth off of his back, holding it upright with one paw, he unwrapped it with the other, revealing a long bronze spear. "It was my father's champion fishing spear. He gave it to me before I left as a farewell gift and to defend myself should I get stuck in a difficult situation. It's all bronze so it won't rust. It does have some patina spots from the air though. But hey, it's better than nothing!"

"Can you use it?"

"I'm working on that, I've done plenty of spear fishing and I'm good at it, but I can't really brag about much."

"What if you found yourself in a 'situation'?"

"I couldn't imagine killing somebeast, armed or not it just doesn't seem right... Would you?"

"I think 'have I?' is a better question to ask, to which the answer is _yes_." a small smirk appeared on his face, "The thing about searats and corsairs is that they aren't like other vermin where if you don't kill them, they'll run away and never show their faces again, corsairs will take every opportunity to kill you. And when I say they will, I mean they _will_. It feels very wrong at first. But eventually you just get into the mentality that if you don't do it— if you don't kill them first— they'll kill at least two others before they're taken down."

Trying to keep his cool, Maximus replied, "H...have you ever run into a corsair ship on this route?"

Raoul shrugged, "Sometimes. We have some mercenaries on board, but they just sit around and take advantage of the free trip while others, like you, have to give us something in exchange. Even when we've run into corsairs the mercenaries are too drunk off their tails to do much. It almost got us killed the last full moon! This ship may look nice, but it's hardly stayin' afloat the way they run this thing. You'll see that soon enough."

The wind picked up, neither of the two seemed to have noticed.

"I see..."

"What's painted on that cloth?"

"Huh? Oh this," said Maximus, unrolling the cloth his spear was in, "This is a map, a pretty good one too. It has the entire coastline of Mossflower country, going about as far inland as Redwall and about twice as far going out into the North Sea."

"That's pretty neat," said Raoul. "But why are there still so many blank portions, is it unfinished?"

"Yes, I'll fill it in as I travel though. I'd love to see this thing complete, It's been in my family for generations. I want to add more than any of my ancestors have... Say, where are you from, can I find it on here?"

"I'm from Mossflower, along the River Moss I lived in a tree-house with my family, right after you cross the ford if you're heading east on the river. It's hidden along the right riverbank in a weeping willow. It's right... here!"

"Wow, that's pretty close to the abbey, 'ave you ever been there before?"

"Eh, sometimes but not too often. Jus' for the feasts an' such."

"That's pretty neat. I've always wanted to visit there. What's it like? Is it as big as they say it is?"

"Absolutely. Their Great Hall could hold this ship with room to spare!"

"Incredible!" Exclaimed Maximus, "So why don't you live there?"

The squirrel shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, abbey life isn't for my family, especially me. I like the open seas the best."

"How did you decide you wanted to be a sailor? No offense, but squirrels don't usually do things like that."

"None taken. You see, I was always fascinated by the shrews and their log boats. One time they took me on a ride down the river and I knew immediately i wanted to be a sailor. So when I got older, I told my family goodbye and haven't gone back since, although I'm supposed to spend the winter there and head back this fall. But that's a long way away, it's only spring."

There was a distant crack as the clouds lit up, the wind started blowing harder. The captain bellowed out orders, "Take down the sails, batten down the hatches and secure the cargo, get safety lines on, I don't want anybeast overboard!"

It was not long before the storm was upon the merchant vessel, tossing it back and forth like a child's toy in a bathtub. Maximus was in the infirmary with seasickness. He laid prone on one of the beds, the infirmary keeper gave him a solution that helped him sleep. It worked almost instantly.

Raoul was in the masts tying up the sails. It was a dangerous task, especially when there was lightning. The wind was much stronger higher up, the violent rocking of the ship only made things more difficult, safety lines would often be tripped on, very rarely would a crewbeast fall due to the storm itself.

Raoul strained to pull up the sails in the violent wind. As soon as his section was up, he grabbed some rope and started tying the sail in place. As he was reached through a hole in the knot to pull the other half through, a huge wave smashed into the boat, catching him by surprise. He fell off of the sail only to have his wrist caught in the knot, breaking it against his weight. A scream left his lips and he hung there limply for a short moment until a burly otter pulled him up back onto the mast.

"You better go get that treated, I'll finish tying up your section." he said.

Raoul nodded and awkwardly climbed down the ratlines onto the deck, taking a small knife from his belt, he cut his safety line and hurried to the infirmary below. 

* * *

Back aboard the _Seaspark_ , Captain Leonardo was in the middle of interrogating the searat from the _Redworm_. The rat's eyes were almost swollen completely shut from the intense interrogation methods.

"Once more, what do you know about the _Cry of Amun_?"

The searat sobbed, "I already told you, I don't know!"

Smacking the rat across the face, he asked again "I saw the way you reacted when I first said it, now tell me what you know!"

"W...what're ye gonna do t' me?"

"I highly doubt you'd want to find out. But since you're so eager I suppose we can show you firsthand. Take him to the top deck."

Minutes later, there was a loud splash as the rat hit the water behind the stern of the ship. His legs were tied to the stern rail and by a long rope that went up and over the aft mast as he was dragged in the water. The crew pulled him in slowly. As the rat was pulled back up to the ship, he was suspended at eye level with Captain Williams, who held the rope in his paw.

"I don't believe I caught your name."

The rat sputtered out water in between gulps of air and replied "Wearul... Me name's Wearul."

"Hmm... Odd name." he let go of the rope and let Wearul fall back into the water. After repeating the process a few times, Leonardo asked the rat again, "What do you know about Deamal and his ship, the _Cry of Amun_?"

This time Wearul answered, "Ok! I'll tell ye, I'll tell ye!" still upside down, he spoke, "I used to be a cook's assistant on it, honest that's all!"

"Was there any places of interest he had in particular?"

"No, we would raid the coastlines occasionally, but the cap'n allus preferred to raid isles an' such. Wherever help couldn't come from inland like it can around the fire mountain or th' main shore. He allus said 'I knows what happens to warlords who invade those areas, an' their sun-bleached bones can tell you th' story.' An' why fight up against that when you can invade isles an' such an' gain the same amount of loot fer it..."

"We get it." the captain interjected, "How many crew are there?"

"Uh... jus' over a score I reckon. All seasoned killers an' sharp as a tack. I've seen 'em take on nearly a hun'red beats an' come out without a scratch."

"If you were one of his crew, why are you not anymore? And why did you hesitate to tell us about the ship?"

"Well, er, I managed ter 'scape the ship by jumping overboard durin' the night. Ye see, I accidentally gave the entire crew some food poisonin' wit' me special sauce. Anyway, they woulda killed me ye see, I had no choice! Deamal cares about 'is crew, but he's as ruthless as th' ocean. One slip up and yer a goner. What good ever came to a beast who knew something his captors needed? I figured playin' dumb 'd jus' save me more trouble than twas worth."

"I see, so where are they now?"

"Well, we was headed northwards along the coast when I abandoned ship. I reckon they'd be up there somewheres."

Captain Williams made an aside to his mate quietly, "What do you think, everything he's said so far seems to match Deamal's normal behavior. I think he's the real deal."

"Aye, I agree." Said Dassiter.

"Numa toyuk mi swarmatta ki-ki lânà." Added Siri Luna.

"Good call, Siri." Dassiter relayed what the ottermaid said to Wearul, "When did all o' this happen?"

Wearul hesitated on answering, just as it looked like the rat would not answer, Captain Williams feigned dropping him in the water by letting him drop a couple of feet before grabbing hold of the rope again.

"Agh! A month, a month!"

The captain smirked, "That's what I thought." handing the rope to Dassiter, he turned and started walking away.

"Captain," Dassiter called after him, "what should we do with him?"

Taking a good look at Wearul, he spoke "You said you were part of Deamal's crew?"

"Y...yes sir."

The captain reached for the dagger in his belt but stopped, "I can't kill you, because then how would I know for sure if you weren't lying to me?" turning to Dassiter he ordered,

"Put 'im back in the ship's brig. Don't harm him though, we need to keep him alive. Make sure he's not near anything he can use to escape so clear an area for him and post a sentry; I don't want 'im getting loose. As for nourishment, feed him twice daily and give him enough water to live on. Relieve the sentries every couple of hours. Nobody may speak to him without my permission. Move quickly, it's getting late and we've another long day tomorrow. Stay on course for Amijowi. After we stop there we're heading north along the Coast of Mossflower Country to catch the _Cry of Amun_. If anyone objects or has a question speak now... No? Good! I'll take the first shift at the wheel."

Later in the night, Captain Williams stood behind the wheel of his ship and used the stars as his guide. He listened as the _Seaspark_ sliced through the water and waves gently splashed against the hull in a soothing rhythm. Leonardo spoke out loud to himself, "The trail's no longer cold, Deamal. I am going to bring your head back to Salamandastron with me. Cherish your last days on this planet while you can because there's nowhere to run to where I won't find you. There is no refuge for you to take in the farthest corners of the world where you won't be discovered. I have said this promise a thousand times and I will say it again, I will find you and I will kill you if it means even my own destruction as well!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Maximus woke up in the infirmary, he felt just like new. He sat up and stretched, looking around as he did. He saw Raoul, whose paw was bandaged, looking at him from across the room. After a short moment, Maximus spoke,

"What happened to your paw?"

"I fell off the mast. I feel fine, but I have to stay here and 'rest'," said Raoul flatly.

Maximus struggled to stifle his laughter. Before he could say anything, Raoul replied, "Yes 'ha-ha' it's very funny, a squirrel that lost his balance on a limb. Well, at least it's better than a seasick sea otter! Who's ever heard of that?!"

"Ah, stow it you one pawed excuse for a squirrel!"

"One paw or not I could still beat you with my eyes shut!"

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"Bring it on riverdog!"

They charged at each other. But just before Maximus passed the door, it swung open, hitting him in the face. Raoul tried to stop but he was not fast enough. He plowed right into the figure who had opened the door. After much groaning, a voice called out,

"Agh! Get off of me!"

Raoul stood up slowly. Shaking his head, he looked down and saw the infirmary keeper, who stood up and spoke none too nicely, "What in the world is going on in here?! Well, don't just stand there, speak up!"

"Awww c'mon Drable, me n' Maximus was jus' having a bit o' fun that's all." said Raoul

Looking around, Drable spoke, "Oh really, well where is he then?"

"Mm back here." a muffled voice called out from behind the door

The infirmary keeper closed the door, revealing Maximus laying on the ground with a paw over his nose and mouth.

"What are you doing?" demanded Drable

"I himm mma mose omm th' moor."

"Quit fooling around and take that paw off your face!"

Sitting up on his elbow Maximus removed his paw, exposing his almost sideways nose. "I thaid I hit by nose on da door!" Immediately Raoul burst out in laughter.

"Bahahahaha now you're a seasick otter with a sideways face! Hahahaha– ow! Hey!" Raoul sat rubbing his bandaged paw, glaring angrily at the otter. A box of herbs that Maximus had thrown lay on the floor at his feet. Before anything else could happen, the infirmary keeper shouted out,

"That's it! Out, both of you! I'll have you two scrubbing pans for days for this kind of behavior! Now go report to the captain what you've done so you can receive your punishment… _Now_!"

The two left the room without further argument. 

* * *

Several leagues to the south and hidden among an area by the name of Tall-Rocks, a two-masted schooner could be found. Its crew lined up on deck on both sides in a military fashion, making a clear isle from the captain's quarters to the bow of the ship where the lookout, a nimble looking and heavily tattooed ferret, stood with his spyglass patiently. Suddenly the door opened and the captain, a tall pine marten, strode out on the deck. He had a look to him which resembled that of a pharaoh: he wore a wrap fabric skirt tucked into the waistline at the center front and a wesekh around his neck. In his paw, he held a khopesh sword and had gold cuffs studded with rubies around his wrists. His dark brown fur covered all but creamy patch of hair over his chest. His eyes were the like the darkest of night set in two perfect orbs on his face, enhanced by the eyeliner tattooed around them. The crew remained still as he made his way to the bow of the ship where the lookout, waited. The captain stopped in front of him.

"You said this was important Talom, what is it?"

"My lord, a merchant ship approaches from the north heading in our direction. It appears it is called the _Fenero_. It is very large in both size and numbers, but looks rather slow, an easy target for one as mighty as you."

"Excellent, when will it pass?"

"By the time the sun is setting, it will be here my lord."

"Perfect. We will wait until nightfall to make our move, that way we can board without being seen and most everyone will be below deck."

"A fine plan my lord, but how will we remain unspotted when they pass us and the sun is just setting? There will still be enough light for us to be visible."

The pine marten smiled, revealing two rows of perfectly straight and pearly teeth, "I knew you'd say that. As they come down from the north, most likely going around the rocks to the west, we will circle around the rocks to the east. By the time we get around, it should be fully dark. Then, I'll order all lights to be put out. The merchant ship will be easily visible with its galley lights on, so we will use it as our guide. Since our ship is much faster than theirs, we will have no trouble catching up to it. By the time we reach it, most everyone should be asleep and that is when we will make our move."

Smiling in anticipation, "Will take prisoners?" said Talom

Putting a paw on the lookout's shoulder, the captain spoke, "I am not a creature to do such a foolish thing."

Giving a wicked cackle, Talom responded, "You truly are Lord Deamal the Menace!" 

* * *

It was nearly midnight. Onboard the _Fenero_ , Maximus and Raoul were left to do all of the dishes. It had taken them much longer than it would with kitchen helpers. Maximus's swelling had gone down on his nose, but it was still causing him pain, he threw down his scrubbing brush angrily,

"Humph! How many dishes are there left?! This is ridiculous..."

"Oh, I'm not sure, just enough to keep us busy until next week or so. It's not bad, really." Raoul replied Raoul.

"Ugh, this is tedious work, what did we even do?"

"Huh, you've got it easy, I can only use one paw thanks to this stupid bandage!"

"What d' ye say we just ditch this whole thing and go do something else?"

"I would if we could pal, I would if we could. Hey, these ones are done, go put them with the others."

Maximus took a pile of pans from Raoul and put them in a growing pile of 'clean' dishes. They sat together and exchanged stories and talked about what they wanted their futures to be like. As they each found, they had quite a bit in common. It was the beginning of a friendship that would last through the seasons.

Soon, all of the dishes were clean and put away. Before they left for their bunks, Raoul said, "Go check in the dining hall for any dishes we may have missed. I don't want to get in any more trouble for not getting everything. The beasts on this ship are pretty picky."

Maximus nodded and strode into the dining room. There was a bronze cup and a fork still on the far end of the table. He walked over and snatched them up with a tired sigh. Suddenly there was a small thud, followed by another and another. It was coming from directly above him. Quickly glancing up, he saw nothing. But when Maximus turned away and started to walk to the kitchen.

 _Crash!_

Turning about quickly, Maximus saw one of the galley windows broken open and a large rat swing through! He froze for a moment, then, looking at the fork in one paw, and the cup in the other, he threw them both and ran out shouting, "Corsairs, corsairs! We're under attack!"

In no time the crew was up and grabbing anything to use as a weapon: staves, rope, small knives and scimitars. Most of the mercenaries were too drunk to know where they were, let alone fight.

Maximus hurriedly took the spear from his back and unwound the cloth while Raoul armed himself with several kitchen knives.

"Okay buddy listen up," Raoul said, "I think this is what your father meant by telling you that spear was for difficult situations. You're gonna have to use that spear of yours and 'll probably end up killing somebeast."

Shocked, Maximus replied, "Are you sure there's no other way? I can't kill a beast, armed or not!"

The squirrel stopped what he was doing for a moment and stepped closer to Maximus until their faces were nearly touching. "Listen mate, I know it's not what you're used to. But like I said before, if you don't kill them, they'll kill you an' two others. Now I'd really like to live through this and see you live too because we're pals an' that's what pals do. But the chances of that happening are very small unless you're willing to trust me on this one. I'm gonna be relying on you to help me with my paw an' all."

Any further conversation was cut short by half a score of corsairs who came storming through the kitchen towards them. Flipping a table on its side, Raoul grabbed some pans and started throwing them at the enemy, Maximus followed. This did very little to stop the corsairs' charge, but it bought them enough time for more crew of the _Fenero_ to come to their aid.

"Fire!" yelled a rat, the same one who'd broken the window in the galley.

"Raoul grabbed Maximus and threw him down behind the upturned table. Arrows cut through the ranks of the _Fenero_ with a frightening effect.

"Let's get out of here!" yelled Raoul as he made a run for the exit, Maximus dumbly followed.

Out on the deck it was a scene of total chaos. The crew of the _Fenero_ outnumbered that of The _Cry of Amun_ by five to one, yet they were facing horrible losses. Arrows were shot by the corsairs into the crew of _Fenero_ with massive effects while others with swords defended the archers with great skill and ease. Together they created a death machine that made a slow but steady advance. The rest of the corsair crew was scattered among the deck stabbing away at anything that moved.

A tall pine-marten took a swing at Raoul. He sidestepped and took a stab at the attacker with one of his many kitchen knives. The foe blocked it and disarmed the squirrel as he did. The corsair raised his oddly curved sword over his head to take a downward slash on Raoul when Maximus jumped in the way, blocking the blow with his spear. This was all the time that Raoul needed to take out another knife and slash at the pine marten. It jumped back, narrowly avoiding a serious injury. This time the foe swung at Maximus. Maximus tried to defend himself with all that he could but the pine marten was too powerful. With one savage blow, the pirate knocked Maximus off of his feet and across the deck. Quickly, the young otter sat up and grabbed his spear. Raoul was making a desperate attempt to defend himself against the corsair, but he was losing strength fast.

"Maximus, your spear! Throw your spear!" cried Raoul.

Maximus stood up and slowly raised his long, patina covered weapon. Raoul was frantically trying to keep away the vicious blows from the pine marten, but was no match still and was soon being pushed towards the rail of the ship. Maximus knew that it was now or never, but could he really kill another creature? Even so much as wound them? He took his aim and breathed deeply, knowing he would not miss if he threw it. Even with his friend's life in danger, something tugged at Maximus from the inside which kept him from actually doing it.

"Captain, watch out!"

Suddenly, a corsair threw himself at Maximus and knocked him head first into and over the guard rail. Maximus tumbled into the sea. Fighting feebly to stay conscious, he looked up at the _Fenero_ just in time to see his fears confirmed. Raoul lay slumped over the guard rail, dead. The kitchen knife he was fighting with was thrust in his back. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Amijowi Isle looked beautiful in the dawn's fresh light. Leonardo sat on the bowsprit of the _Seaspark_ , watching the distant island slowly grow bigger as the ship neared. Leonardo always loved Amijowi. It was a tear-shaped chunk of luscious jungles and fertile land. One of the very few on the great Western Sea that had never seen violence. Towards the Southern tip of the isle, a very small mountain could be seen jutting upwards.

Upon their arrival, Leonardo issued orders for small parties of five or so to be sent out for food, water, and wood to be made into timber. Leaving the rest of the crew to guard the ship, the captain went with a party to get food from the top of the mountain.

Captain Williams made his way up the slope of the mountain with four of his crew: two squirrel twins of a younger age, Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn, the healer of the ship, an ottermaid named Ellyvin, and the stout hedgehog, Gorm. Each of them had different origins that made them a unique addition to the crew.

As they hiked with their empty food sacks in paw, Gorm, who trailed behind, called out in his thick and heavy accent. "Oi, Kaptain! Why must we be climbin' such a large hill for five teeny sacks o' food? I thinks it is nothing but a waste! Zere is plenty o' food down off of the mountain!"

Leonardo replied, keeping his eyes forward, "True, it seems like it'd make no sense, however, I've been to this isle many times, more than you, Gorm. And every time, I've found that the best pickings are at the top of this mountain. Besides, I want to be able to see if there're any ships near the isle besides ours."

"Oh, well I always loved the fruit from Amijowi isle, we should have stopped zere. Ze grapes and strawberries are like hand fruits! Aye, and ze plums have more juices in them than the ocean has water! Ooh and... What, why are you looking at me funny?"

Leonardo and the rest of the party paused and looked at Gorm like he had three heads. The captain massaged the corners of his eyes and sighed, "Gorm, what island are we on?"

"Och, I believe we're on Volcano Island, kapitan." replied the hedgehog.

Leonardo leaned his head against a tree and closed his eyes. "Tell me Gorm, where did Dassiter say to set course for the other day?"

"I believe he said Volcano Island, sire, which would explain our presence here."

"Do you see a volcano, Gorm?"

"Ugh... oh... No, kaptain, I do not."

Leonardo replied, sounding tired. "So, what other island could we be on? Please think hard now about what Dassiter said."

"I do not remember, kaptain... sir."

Smacking his forehead, Captain Williams replied, "It was Amijowi! Why weren't you listening to orders?!"

The hedgehog took a moment to think, "Och, so what you are telling me is zat we've been on Amijowi all along?!" The captain merely nodded and stepped to the side, just in time to avoid Gorm's bulky form hurdling forward up the mountain as fast as his stubby paws would carry him.

"I guess the ole pincushion is hungry." Said Ronar.

* * *

Maximus awoke with a startle. His vision was hazy, but he could hear waves crashing and feel the sand underneath his body. He sat up and rubbed his head, it pounded in a pulsing rhythm. As his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, he took stock of his surroundings. It did not take long for him to realize that he had no idea where he was. There was nothing but sand dunes all around him. Out on the ocean, he could not pinpoint any coastal landmarks. There was only nothingness. Nothingness and the ocean. He tried thinking of what happened that put him in this situation, but his thoughts were interrupted by his intense thirst. He feebly wobbled upright and staggered towards the sea. He could not drink the water, but at least it would cool him off.

 _How did I wind up here? Did I come here on purpose? And where is here?_ These and several other thoughts flowed through the young otter's head as he washed himself off. Turning to face the shore, he noticed something shiny sticking out of the sand. Exiting the water and stumbling over to it, he picked the object up. It was a bronze spear with a little bit of patina buildup around the butt end. Memories of the pirates' raid flashed through Maximus' mind as he realized what he had done. Falling on his knees, the young otter sobbed.

* * *

Lord Deamal the Menace stood at the bow of his ship, heading north along the coast. After looting the _Fenero_ the night before, he towed it out to sea and sunk it. He never trusted using other vessels other than his two-masted schooner. True, large merchant ships could hold much more treasure and crew, but they were like slow, oversized targets out at sea. His schooner was fast and agile and gave him the ability to have a quick getaway. Besides, he'd have to hire more sailors if he got a bigger ship, and he rarely trusted anybeast outside of his own crew. "That's the mistake most warlords make." he would often point out, "That and staying in one place and trying to conquer massive fortresses for treasure they don't even know exists. Why do that when you can be certain that there's even more treasure on isolated islands? Each island is scattered around the ocean like chaff among the wind and offers something different with each changing culture. All you have to do is find them and it's yours. Other warlords were nothing but stupid oafs rotting in the ground or sitting in the sun as it bleached their bones. Why settle in a musty fortress when you know the walls will crumble sooner or later?" Such was the way of The Menace.

A voice interrupted Deamal's thoughts, "My lord, Talom has spotted creatures on the shore. It appears to be a group of otters. He thinks it could be holt."

Turning about, the Pine Marten smiled, "Ah Drath, I owe you my life after what you did last night. Had it not been for you and the rest of my faithful crew, I would be lying dead with a spear thrust through my center. You are truly as loyal to your captain as I am to my crew. As for the otters, I already saw them. However, tell Talom to make sure none are hidden among rocks or the cliffs waiting to ambush us. Then have him report me their numbers and weaknesses. I'll be in my cabin."

"Yes my lord." replied Drath.

Deamal rubbed his khopesh sword's handle. He did not sleep the night before due to his close call with the otter wielding the spear. He would have to be more careful about his surroundings next time instead of being distracted by some squirrel. No matter, they were all dead now. Leaving his thoughts there, Deamal retreated to his cabin.

Later, Talom came in to make his report.

"My lord, the otter clan appears to be taking precautions as we near. The young and old have been sent inside caves while about a score stay outside on the beach. They have not called to arms."

The Menace paused for a moment before replying, "No sense in just attacking them straight on, let's sail past them. After dark, we'll circle back and take them by surprise, like in the legends of Daskar[1]."

"A wise choice my lord, I will tell the crew."

* * *

Back on Amojowi isle, Captain Williams, Kiril, Ronar, and Ellyvin waited on top of the mountain for Gorm to catch up. After several moments, Gorm slowly pulled his bulky frame onto the summit. Standing up, he brushed himself off and looked around at everyone.

"...Well, I could have beaten you all oop 'ere. I jus' don't like showin' off!"

"Of course, Gorm, we wouldn't doubt yer word! You're the fastest beast I know and this is Volcano Island!" jested Kiril.

"Ach, well ah'm famished! Perhaps a wee snack first, eh? Ooh look, some grapes!"

Leonardo looked at the sun, then at Gorm, "Well, I suppose we've a bit o' extra tim– Gorm, no!" The captain threw himself at the hedgehog and knocked him to the ground, ignoring Gorm's spikes he pried the food from his paws, "Gorm, you idiot, those aren't grapes, they're moonseed!" The two got up and Leonardo plucked the spikes from his body. "Ye can't just go 'round eatin' everything ye see, mate. Those things are poisonous; you'd be paralyzed in seconds."

Gorm tried to hastily wipe the berry juices from his clothes and paws. "Thank ye, Kaptain! Thank ye from the bottom o' my 'eart! Where would we be without ye?" He said and he grabbed the captain's paw and shook it violently.

Ronar lightly elbowed Kiril in the side and murmered, "Probably on Volcano Island." His brother laughed.

Trying hard not to smile at the grateful hedgehog, Leonardo replied, "Oh no need to thank me pal, it's my job to look after my friends, that's why I'm captain, right?"

They set about filling their sacks with various foods native to the island and steered clear of the toxic moonseed. Once they were all filled, they headed back down the mountain. About halfway down, Kiril's voice shouted out, "Captain look! Sail to the north!"

Leonardo looked up and saw the sail on the distant horizon.

"Gorm, hand me my spyglass, quick!"

The stout hedgehog handed it over without delay. All four waited as the captain looked and looked again, appearing to mumble things to himself as he did. Other than that, all was still.

"It's the ship!" Leonardo yelled. Dropping everything, he sprinted down the mountainside, his crew trailed behind him.

Leonardo stumbled through the brush in the frantic chase to reach his _Seaspark_ , ducking under branches and leaping over fallen trees as he went. Suddenly his foot caught a root and he toppled over, rolling down the small mountain through brush and thorn. He hit his head on a rock and finally came to a stop at the bottom. He was out cold.

* * *

Dassiter had camp set up on the beach after the rest of the supplies were taken in. He sat around a fire with Gorm, Kiril, Ronar, and Ellyvin. The captain laid wrapped in a blanket, his back to the fire. Dassiter listened as the four recounted the events of the evening, up until the moment Dassiter had seen them carrying the unconscious captain back to the ship. Once all was said, Dassiter thought for a moment, then spoke, "Did any of ye confirm this was the ship besides Leo?"

They all shook their heads no.

The first mate sighed, "I thought so... Here's what is going to happen, when the captain wakes, we will tell him it wasn't the ship. But I need everybeast onboard with me or else this won't work. It was just another searat vessel passing by, nothing significant. We would've pursued, but the captain's health comes first and we already have a former crew member of the vessel."

"Why can't we go after the ship? What if it truly is the _Cry of Amun_?" said Ellyvin.

"Look enough is enough! We can't just go off searching for a vessel that _might_ be the ship we're lookin' for when we already have evidence of where the ship definitely is. By the time we catch up with this vessel, the real _Cry of Amun_ could very well be gone from the North coast. Look—"

"Wearul said the ship was off the North coast a month ago. A ship can travel far in a month." said Ronar.

"I understand that, but you've all been to the meetings we've had while the captain sleeps. And all ye very well know and have already agreed upon the plan: at the end of the month, if we haven't found the ship, we're ditching for the sake of the crew's sanity. If this doesn't turn out to be the actual ship, we'll have missed our chance to get it in the Northern waters. We've been at sea for seasons and everyone except the captain thinks there's a pretty good chance the ship is no more. Enough is enough. It's either we take a chance or an even smaller one. Either trust the former crew of the ship or an unstable captain.

"Tell me, of all the searat vessels we've raided, how many of 'em were two-masted schooners? A fair number of 'em! And how many times has the captain 'seen' the ship, making us change course and spend sometimes _days_ catching up to it, all to be disappointed? Again, a pretty big number."

"Agh, as much as I hate t' admit it, yer right Dassiter. We are not getting our families back. Our villages are gone and so is ze ship. But what are we gonna do wiz ze kaptain?" said Gorm

"I'm not sure mate, but I hope we can get 'im to agree. If he won't come peacefully, I feel we'll have to put 'im outta his misery and just end it all for him. It's an awful thing to do... But how long can we keep up with this? We've done what we could and tried tellin' him we're worn. Where has that gotten us? Now, a great deal o' my life has been lost on some wild goose chase. Enough is enough..."

A short moment passed before Kiril broke the silence, "It's getting late and we should best be getting to bed. I'll go tell the crew of the plan and be back shortly."

As everybeast fell asleep next to the warm fire, Leonardo was still laying with his back to the flames, but with his eyes open.

* * *

[1] See _The Legend of Luke_ by Brian Jacques.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"It's safe now, they've passed us by." a lean male otter called into the caves of his tribe. Many were already asleep, but the otter's words comforted those who were still awake.

"Was it corsairs?" asked an old maid from within the dark recess.

"Not sure, but all that's important is that we're safe here." The lean otter turned around to go back to the beach, but found a tall pine marten with a curved sword at his neck.

"Shh, ye better keep quiet, I heard corsairs inhabit these waters, they can be quite dangerous!" jeered the villain.

The otter looked around to see all of the others bound and at the mercy of the evil crew. "Please, do what ye wish with me, but don't hurt our families! I beg of ye!"

"I don't have time for this," mumbled the sinewy figure, "where do ye keep yer valuables?"

"W...we don't 'ave any."

"You're not fooling anybeast with that wise talk! Now, I'll ask again, and if ye value anybeast's life here, you'll tell me, understand? Good! Now, where are they?" The otter took something from around his neck, a golden necklace of a fish and spear, and gave it to the pine marten, who examined it, put it on, then gave out orders, "Everybeast is to give up their valuables; don't forget to check the caves!"

A short while later, a meager pile of assorted items was piled in front of the pine marten. He stood in front of it and put one paw around the otterchief's shoulder while gesturing at the loot with his other paw, shaking his head, "No, this will not do. It's far too little, you see? It's jus' not enough fer the trouble o' comin' all the way here." He said in a hushed tone, as if the two of them had been friends since infancy.

"But it's all we 'ave, what more could ye possibly need?" replied the otter.

The lean creature thought for a moment before whispering gently in the otter's ear, "Perhaps, er, some entertainment? What can ye do?"

"Do?"

"Yeah, _do_..." Without any warning, the pine marten violently threw the otter down and beat him with each of his words that followed, "Because you filth better start givin' us the clothes on yer backs an' yer gold tooth if you don't want me to make a new sail out of your severed tongues! Y' hear me, you leech-infested waif?!" He left the otterchief on the ground and walked over him, making no effort to avoid stepping on his stomach as he did. Deamal waved his paw in annoyance as if to speed things along, "Do whatever the hell ye want— put on a show fer all I care. If it's good enough, I'll reconsider what I have in mind for you lot."

After another short while, several otters lined up in front of the corsair crew with various crudely made, drums, horns, mandolins, lutes, and other stringed instruments. An otter maid stood in front of them. As the band started playing a slow, calming tune by the name of _Raining Honey_ , she sang. Her voice quivered in audible fear.

The Pine Marten was not even listening, he sat on a log facing the performers, took a bite out of a seagull's cooked leg and examined his newly acquired gold necklace. He already knew what was going to become of the otter holt. After all, he was Deamal the Menace, and he had a reputation for this sort of thing.

* * *

Several days later, Captain Leonardo Velox Williams sat at the desk in his quarters. A course had been set for the North coast after his crew informed him that the ship he saw earlier was not that of Deamal's. Nobeast knew of the captain's eavesdropping on Amijowi; now he watched his crews' every movement with bloodshot eyes. Every movement of every creature onboard was a conspiracy against him. Sleep became an even more rare event; about every third night. Days passed in a blur as the ill-fated ship quickly made its way to the North coast of Mossflower country. However, the captain's odd behavior did not go unnoticed...

A mouse by the name of Runty Simon Dutton (for he was abnormally small) was a well valued member of the crew of the _Seaspark_. He had been picked up from an island that had belonged to other mice of similar size nine seasons earlier. He was a sneaky creature known for his tricks and an enormous appetite. On more than one occasion, one would be eating dinner in the dining room, only to look down and find their food gone, taken by the small thief from right under their noses. The rascal would be running around under the table, hardly having to duck!

Upon coming aboard, the crew soon found that Runty was a beast best described as 'comically arrogant'. His finest example of this attribute was highlighted with his fondness for another mouse onboard, Bellus Krásny, the one who had commanded the operations of the battering rams for the sinking of the _Redworm_. Runty was one who enjoyed showing off at every chance he got in hopes of wooing the mousemaid. However, he was prone to go overboard with his confidence, figuratively speaking and, on occasion, literally. Yet, despite all of this, he was fruitless in capturing the lovely Bellus' feelings, who secretly had a heart for somebeast else. Runty was persistent, however, and a much loved member of the crew.

Bellus and Runty were busy washing the aft end of the ship's deck when, as if on cue, Runty launched into another one of his efforts to steal the mousemaid's heart.

"A fine day, Miss Bellus, don't ye think?"

"Hm?"

"I'm just saying, the wind seems to be more at our backs, the sun seems to be warmer, the water is extra clear, and you, my darling, are looking as beautiful as ever! Do tell me, how did one as pretty as you come about to be on a ship such as this? Surely you could've chosen to do anything by simply batting yer eyelashes, yet you choose a life at sea. Wouldn't 'ave been my choice, personally, but I'm glad _I_ did it, because it led me to you, my darling, and I wouldn't trade that for nothin'!"

"Uh huh... Wait, wha–?"

"No, you do not have to speak! For I can see the passion in your eyes as clear as St. Elmo's fire! I can see all that you are thinking of by a simple look at your pretty features. Aye, and I can see that you feel the same for me, as I'm sure you always have! Oh Bellus, what are the odds someone as beautiful as you wind up with a poor wretch like me? Tis fate, no doubt of it! Not even the Monsters of the Abyss and Saberfin, could tear us apart! Surely, you feel the same... You do, yes?"

"Agh Runty! How many times have I told you, we're _not_ —"

Just then, Marius, the otter who had taken Wearul onboard, cut Bellus off by approached Runty and whispering something in the small mouse's ear.

Angry at seeing that Runty was not paying attention to what she was explaining, Bellus put her paws on her hips and gave the mouse a cold stare, "Excuse me, I wasn't finished speaking! We're all part o' the same crew here, what's so important that only Runty can hear? –mmff mm!"

Marius covered her mouth before anything else could be said, "Hush Miss Bellus! This is serious business involving the captain. You'll be caught up next crew meeting."

Eager for an opportunity to appear as important as possible in front of Bellus, Runty spoke, "Ah, Miss Bellus, our love will have to wait, for I am summoned on important business and must leave you here. But worry not, for I shall soon return once this matter is... Yipe!" Bellus doused Runty with a full bucket of seawater and promptly marched away. Runty, though discouraged, straightened his uniform and gave a half-hearted smile "Okay, Miss Bellus, until next time!" Marius merely chuckled as Runty marched towards the brig, his ego still held at a high like a banner in the wind.

The cargo hold was one of Runty's favorite spots to be, for he often hid in the most bizarre places there with a stolen item, food, or just to get away from it all. Every nook and cranny were old news to him. Towards the back of the ship, there were a few crates of sailcloth. However, after much effort, Runty had pushed out the interior crates to form a gap. This was his own secret hideaway from the crew. But after Wearul had been brought onboard, he could not hide down there without being seen by either him or the sentry. When he got down to the hold, only Dassiter was present, Wearul looked unconscious.

"I need a favor of you, Runty."

"Ah, sure thing Dassiter, what d' ye have in mind?"

"C'mere, I'll tell ye."

Runty cautiously made his way over to Dassiter. Something was off. He stopped just out of paws reach, "Ok, what is it?"

"Captain's been acting strange as I am sure you've seen. I was on watch last night with Marius and we overheard him having conversations with himself as if he's rehearsing a play. Even worse, he di'nt come out of his cabin yesterday or today. The crew an' I are worried and we need your help. We need you to see what's going on with him and report back to me or Marius first. I'll then inform the others."

"What are ye talking about? He's been acting the same he always has."

"Well, maybe if ye weren't so busy trying to woo Miss Bellus ye'd notice! Now listen, yer jus' finding out if he's okay. It shouldn't be too difficult, if anybeast can go without being seen, it's you."

"What' do I get in return then?" replied Runty, he always had to have some form of benefit.

Dassiter chuckled and started making his way back to the lower deck. Before going up the steps, he turned and gave his reply"I won't tell anybeast about yer little hideaway in the back corner."

* * *

Later that night, Dassiter had arranged for Runty to be on the second watch. After about an hour, he started making his way to the captain's quarters. A soft light was escaping through the cracks in the door. Peering through the keyhole, Runty saw the captain slumped over his desk asleep. A wax candle flickered next to him and burned the very end of the wick. The room was trashed. Runty held his breath and tested the handle: locked! Reaching into his belt, he pulled out a knife and started wiggling away at the door lock. After about a minute he heard a click and the door slid open, creaking with the rest of the ship. He slipped in unnoticed.

It was not hard to find a hiding place in the messy room. He chose to hide at the far end in the captain's wardrobe behind the several heavy coats inside. As he shut the door to the wardrobe, it occurred to him, "Damn!" he whispered to himself. Runty had forgotten to close the door to the main deck. He made a move to go shut it, but just as he did, the candle went out with a cold breeze, plunging the room into darkness. Runty waited a minute before he started heading for the door, it was like finding his way through a corn maze in the dark. Everywhere he went, he was always stepping over something, more than once he only just caught himself from a full stumble. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Runty reached the door. As he pushed the handle, a gust of wind picked up and slammed the door shut with a bang. Runty was not sure where to run and hide, so he took a shot in the dark and dove as far away from the door as possible. The captain lit his candle and Runty found himself parallel to a coat hanger that was on the ground. The captain was looking around fearfully; his eyes were so bloodshot that Runty swore that they could have scared a phantom. He dared not breathe as the captain looked around, had he been any bigger, Runty was sure that he would have been seen. But the coat hanger must have shielded him from the captain's gaze.

"Who's there?" said Leonardo, his voice hoarse. Drawing his sword he said it again, this time shouting, "Who's there?!" spinning around and looking every which way, "Show yourself. I said show yourseeelllf!" turning, Leonardo stabbed at the wardrobe, right where Runty just was. Leaving his sword stuck in its door, he ripped out his hatchet, "Mutiny, mutiny!" hacking away at anything he thought to be his crew. After several moments of this, he fell to his knees, sobbing.

This continued on for a minute or so as a terrified Runty Dutton stared on in petrified silence. It was broken when Dassiter, Marius, and Gorm busted through the door with swords drawn and at the ready, "Kaptain, where are ye, is everythin' okay?!"

Leonardo stood up from behind his desk, hatchet in paw and ready to throw.

"Kaptain, et's us! What is goin' on?!" cried Gorm, "We are here t' help you!"

Captain Williams slowly lowered his hatchet and looked around. His face looked shocked, "Agh, I'm sorry mates, haven't been myself lately. Been so caught up in the chase that I've been having the craziest nightmares of being attacked. I'm sorry to have woken you all up with my yelling." Looking around at the room and finally noticing Runty lying prone on the ground and he chuckled. "It's alright, Runty, I'm not going to hurt anybeast. You can get up now... I guess I didn't know I was awake, by the look of things. No matter, I'll get it cleaned up tomorrow, I just need some rest. You all should do the same, that's an order!" With this and several more reassuring words, they all left the captain to himself. Once they had gone, he spoke,

"That was close, I could've been killed! I know for certain that I left that door locked, so this begs the question how in the world they could have barged in like that? I could have sworn that the mutiny was for the end of the month! Surely they didn't know I was awake on Amijowi. Or _did_ they? Maybe I misheard, the mutiny is supposed to be _by_ the end of the month? Agh! No matter, a mutiny is coming and I know not when, I could see it in them that they weren't ready for me. A good thing, too. Another attempt won't be happening tonight, I'll be able to sleep! But not too long, oh no! I must always be awake, always be alert! For they are coming for me soon, but I will be waiting for them —what? No! My crew wouldn't mutiny me! I've known 'em for too long. Yes, they've tried giving up the mission but never something like a _mutiny_ —ohh but they would! That's just what they want me to think! Lucky for me I'm one step ahead of them, one step ahead, always one step ahead..."

* * *

Down in the galley, Dassiter, Marius, and Gorm had a meeting with Runty, where he relayed the events that occurred, up until they showed up. They sat around a table, a single candle illuminating the scene. Shadows danced across the walls like they had lives of their own.

"A mutiny?!" Said Dassiter, "Where would he have picked that up?"

"Perhaps the stress of de journey 'as finally kaught up to 'im, we've never 'ad a lead like this before. Kaptain's probably just suspicious why things 're finally goin' 'is way."

"Hmph! I think he's always been odd! You guys are just noticing it now."

"Shut your mouth, Runty, this is serious. Besides, you never noticed his behavior before, so why now?"

"Eh, almost getting killed by the captain made me realize how I really don't like him that much!"

"I think ze runt may be on to something. Mayhaps he has always been like zis and zis is de first time we've actually noticed?"

"That's impossible," replied Dassiter, "I know him better than anybeast, and this is not something that's always happened. I've tried talking to him about what's going on, but he always talks about something else... Truly odd..."

"Could he have heard about the crew meetings? I mean, it's bound to leak somewhere."

"What, you mean to say that somebeast _told_? I wouldn't believe it. Who would want to inform an already... er... _unstable_ captain of something that'd finally push him over the edge like this? He had to have heard something himself."

"But how could he?" Said Marius' deep bass voice.

"Hmm. I haven't the smallest clue. Can anybody think of any solution that fits the events?"

There was a long pause, after which, Marius was the first to speak, "My word, I know what's wrong with our captain!" He looked at First Mate Tussock, who confirmed what he was thinking with a somber nod. Runty also picked up on this. Marius continued, "He's sick..."

"Wha? What d' ye mean by zat?"

Runty was the one to reply. With a surprising amount of anger, he jumped up onto the table and waved his paws about wildly. "It means, Gorm, that captain Williams has finally cracked, gone bonkers, coo-coo, whatever you wanna call it! Madness is descending upon our captain of the _Seaspark_ with the weight of a mountain, and everybeast knows a mad captain's vessel is almost always a doomed one."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Maximus Mossly had been wandering aimlessly about his new environment for over a day now. He wandered into a wooded area of the land with no plan other than to find some food and water. His footsteps were heavy and left clear tracks in the ground behind him. A thin trail a few inches wide slugged along next to them from where he dragged his spear. The young otter was hungry and dehydrated, but no water was to be found anywhere around him.

 _Maximus, your spear! Throw your spear!_ Raoul's words echoed through his mind over and over and pulsed with the rest of his aching body. Had he been able to kill the pine martin, would his friend, Raoul, still be with him? The ship may have still fallen, but it would be better than being alone, and it being his own fault at that.

The otter's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running water— fresh water— which would undoubtedly lead to something to eat as well! Energized by this, Maximus sped forward through the brush without hesitation. He was so thirsty, so hungry, and it was so hot out. The single trip-wire neatly stretched over the ground was something that Maximus did not see until it was too late. In the matter of only an instant, Maximus flopped over and went up in a tightly woven net of thick vines. As fate would have it, his spear wound up on the ground below him just next to a set of counterweights, which was another net holding some small boulders. A series of small bells were tied to the vines, ringing as Maximus struggled to break free. It was no use: he was stuck until somebeast came and got him.

"Ooh, lookit what I caught, heeheehee!"

Maximus was startled by the unfamiliar voice and looked around. He snarled with his teeth bared, an utter bluff. "Where are ye? Who are ye?"

"Tsk tsk, you really can't see me mate? Look harder…"

Maximus did so, craning his neck about from within his tight quarters to look in the direction from which the voice had come from, but could not make anything out. "Show yourself, you coward!"

The mystery creature then appeared from right in front of where Maximus was looking, almost slithering out of the shadows. This startled the young otter again and he rattled around in his prison, "Agh! Wh-who are you?!"

"Who am I? Huh, ya know, it's been _seasons_ since I've been asked that. Been stranded all by me lonesome on this here island for a while, ye see. I can remember how to keep me sanity but not me own name! Woohahahaha!" Said the creature

"What d' ye want with me?"

"Well, you're not a bird, so I won't eat ye… Maybe you can help me get off this island!"

"Wait, _island_? How can that be? Mossflower country was in sight only the night before last when the _Fenero_..." The otter cleared his throat to suppress his tears. The creature understood,

"Ahh... Ye lost your ship. I'm sorry mate, tis a rough thing to go through... I've been in a few shipwrecks myself, last of which landed me here. Yer a very far way from Mossflower, my friend." Said the creature, loosening the trap and lowering Maximus carefully, who seemed friendly enough to him. "Are ye sure it's only been two days since you lost yer ship?"

Standing up, Maximus cleared his throat again, "Well that'd explain my thirst and hunger. Exactly how far away from Mossflower am I? I thought I was in it all along."

"My friend, this is the most dangerous island on the entire Western Sea, several leagues from any land. Welcome to Hsif-Drows, population: us. There's only one way off this dreaded island and it's not by water! It's a little project I've been working on for some time now and I've a bit left to go, but now that time is cut in half thanks to your showing up!"

"Why exactly couldn't you just build a boat? What's wrong with the water?" Said Maximus

"Oh, my friend, you've so much to learn, I'll explain later. Ach, where are me manners? The name's Xoer, Xoer Valderez!

Maximus cracked a smile and extended his paw to Xoer. "Maximus Mossly. Nice t' meet you. So, er, if I may ask, what exactly _are_ you Xoer? Where did you come from?"

"Oh, that's right! You can't see me with all of this nonsense on!" The creature removed his camouflage and revealed himself. He was a very thin mongoose with a long face and body, small, rounded ears, short legs, and a long, tapering tail. He wore a snakeskin tunic and a necklace with sets of fangs tied to it, a clear sign of an experienced snake-hunter. He was either old, or the isolation, along with too little food, made him age faster. Rather than a brownish-red fur, he was quite silver.

"I'm from Mossflower country. My home was a bit north o' the abbey near a stone quarry. 'Twas a lovely place. I lived there as a snake-slayer with my good pal, Nol, who was a mole and a mighty fine craftsbeast. One day he fell quite ill, how this happened I am not sure, but 'twas a very rare sickness. I'm not willing to go into symptoms, it's quite frightening..."

Huh, _frightening_! Maximus thought to himself. _What kind o' sickness makes a snake slayer scared?..._

Xoer continued talking "...So that meant that not even the abbey dwellers could heal my poor friend! At least, not without a special remedy, created from the bags of the _Hooded Ones_."

"Hooded Ones, who're they?"

"Patience my friend, patience. The Hooded Ones are not native to Mossflower. Very few beasts 've seen 'em and lived normal lives afterward. The ingredients contained in their bags are always guarded with their life, so I am told. Legend has it that they can only be found on certain islands throughout the Western Sea. But you'll only find the magic ingredients in the bags, and the bags are with th' hooded ones!

"I prepared to set out immediately to find these creatures. I figured that if anybeast could do it, it was me, the snake-slayer. Before I left, Nol bestowed upon me a gift: an hourglass! A beautiful, beautiful hourglass made from the most extravagant materials I've ever laid me eyes on. It must've been a project that took _seasons_ to complete! Twas filled with fine sand as orange as th' sunset, an' looked 'bout as soft as a feather bed..." Xoer's eyes appeared to refocus on something far away, and his voice trailed off into a stream of mumbles as he fondly remembered his friend's gift. He stuck out a paw and moved it about, as if trying to touch the hourglass like it were in front of him. "…It had two tear-shaped, crystal containers. More clear than the water in a cup… A single brass support that coiled about the outside like a serpent. And then the bottom had a stamp indent of _The Bowing Mole_ , a symbol in mole culture for friendship beyond even death. Twas so mesmerizing to look at— never off by a second. I could stare at those precious sands for days on end without tiring. There's so much that a simple pawful o' sand can mean: time, what we start as, what we turn into, age, heat— warm an' comforting heat… How I wish I could have it again, if only for a second. 's the only thing I had to remember my pal Nol." Xoer blinked his eyes and shook his head back into reality, "Oh, curse you, Menace!"

"Well, what happened, did you ever find the Hooded Ones?" Maximus shuffled, still not entirely sure of this creature's sanity.

Xoer looked down, "Alas, despite my efforts I never did. Th' kind abbey beasts said he'd only live for about a season with their best treatments. I've been gone for ten. Ten seasons, forty-five an' a half days. Me crew was lost in the attack, an' I'm afraid my good friend Nol is gone all because of that cursed Menace! I told him I wouldn't come back without his remedy… an' he never saw me again. Every single day I can just see him eyeing that infirmary doorway, waiting for his friend to return with his medicine, oblivious to the fact that I, too, was helpless. Stranded on a remote island, struggling to put together an escape so I could continue his quest. Curse you Menace! Curse you Menace!" Xoer bounded about with wide eyes and painted a picture by waving his paws back and forth in the air as he set the scene,

"We were boarded one night by him an' his crew, he slaughtered everyone, looted us completely! He left only me alive, so that I could be miserable and suffer. He tried taking Nol's hourglass, but I fought back, shielding my possession fiercely. But that Menace was too powerful and he slashed at me, ripped the hourglass out o' me paws an' swung back aboard his ship. He left me half-dead an' among the bodies of my dead comrades. I can still see him now, the tall pine marten with the look of a pharaoh.—"

"Hold on a second mate! Did he have a curved sword? Not a cutlass, but something oddly shaped like a crescent moon. A-a-and gold cuffs studded with rubies around his wrists? And did he have evil black eyes and tattoos?"

Xoer was astonished, "Yes! Yes, he did! But how did ye know?"

"That villian's the one who killed my friend and took over my ship, too!" Maximus then related his tale in full to Xoer, who was both joyed to have somebeast to relate to, and enraged that the corsair was still causing destruction.

"I don't believe it: he's still out there... We should stop him!"

"No offense Xoer, but we're only two, he's taken vessels with scores o' beasts on board, what could we do?" Said Maximus.

Brightening up, he said "You leave that t' me pal, we'll get off this rock in no time! But the only way to do that is to work for it! Now, what do ye say we get over to my campsite, I've much to show ye!"

Maximus followed without hesitation, his hunger and thirst forgotten. 

* * *

Captain Deamal the Menace hunched over his sea charts. No raids had been made in a few days and the weather had been quite stormy. Even for an experienced sailor, storms were never easy variables to deal with and can easily throw one off course. He spoke his thoughts aloud, "hmm... We passed the northeastern current two hours before the storm hit. No land is in sight, but it is always to the east, how far east is the question... The storm gusts blew north and we may or may not have been caught in the currents. For all we know, Terramort could be right next to us..."

There came a knock at the door. Deamal ordered them in, half expecting the lookout, Talom, to announce that the island of Terramort had just been spotted, but three different observations fell upon the captain's ears: A ship had been spotted in the far distance to the south heading their way, too far away to determine any details, but by the description, it was a larger sized caravel. In addition to that, another storm was coming in from the west. All three were estimated to meet up by dusk. But the last observation made even Deamal nervous, although he did not show it behind his empty black eyes. The island of Hsif-Drows had been spotted to the east; they were entering the territory of Saberfin and the Monsters of the Abyss. 

* * *

Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock peered through his spyglass at a dot on the horizon. It was a ship! A two-masted schooner heading straight for the _Seaspark_.

"Ship to the north, Captain. A two-masted schooner, and by the looks of it, it's heading straight for us. It's too small and too far out to be any kind of merchant ship, and searats always love the schooners. I think they mean business!"

Everything among the crew of the _Seaspark_ seemed normal. However, the events that had unfolded a few nights prior to that day in the captain's cabin kept Dassiter, Gorm, Marius, and Runty on edge. The crew had not yet been informed, it was too risky to hold a meeting. So rest of the crew remained nearly oblivious. Dassiter said it was better that way. He also said to watch his eyes. "When a beast goes mad, sometimes they can do unnatural things with their eyes" he would say. This put the small group in a great deal of stress, however. Yes, a mutiny was planned for the end of the month, which was less than a week away, but that was if the ship wasn't spotted by then...

"Set course for it at once." said Captain Williams, "Can you make out any other details?"

"Sorry captain, too far away. There's also a storm coming from the East, too. I suggest we stop by the island to the West over yonder to ride it out. There appears to be a fair sized bay in it that could be calm."

"Keep the course I set. I want to get close enough to see details, if it isn't our ship, we'll switch course."

"But captain, it'll be too late to avoid the storm by then, and that island bay is a safe zone!"

"I wouldn't say that. Ye know where we are? I'll give ye all a hint, that island over there is the island o' Hsif-Drows."

Dassiter's jaw dropped and the crew within earshot stopped dead in the middle of what they were doing and gathered closer to the captain, hoping that he was playing some form of a joke on them.

"Hsif-Drows?!" said Dassiter with disbelief, "But nobeast has ever seen that island and lived! It's the home of Saberfin and the Monsters of the Abyss. What the bloody hell did ye bring us here for?!"

"It's the only place we haven't been in search of Deamal. If he wanted a shortcut to the South, this is the route he'd look for."

The crew was stunned into silence, the captain took advantage of the moment to give out orders, "Maintain the course I set, we will find Deamal or die trying!"

The crew remained silent.

"You've gone mad!" Shouted Dassiter, stepping towards Leonardo.

"Ah, ah, Mr. Tussock. Ye wouldn't want to do something you'd regret, now would ye?" Only Dassiter caught the captain's paw on his sword hilt.

After a brief moment of silence, Dassiter spoke, "No, Captain... Everybeast back to work."

He held his gaze on the mad captain, staring deep into two bloodshot eyes. Dassiter went back to work but felt Leonardo's eyes still upon him. All others also resumed work, but every one of them felt like 'or die trying' seemed more and more realistic with each passing moment. The course was set and two ships, a mysterious two-masted schooner and an ill-fated caravel were going to meet at dusk with a storm on one side and the island surrounded by sea monsters on the other.

As the day went on and dusk approached, Dassiter resumed looking at the nearing ship through the spyglass. But he did not do so in his favorite spot on the ratlines. Not in these waters.

The tale of Dassiter before he went to sea was an interesting one which few knew about. Not surprisingly, Leonardo played a major role in Dassiter's early life. Dassiter did not hide his origins, but not everybeast needed to know the details of his life prior to the crew's adventures on the ocean. Many of the others shared his point of view on similar matters.

Dassiter was born at Salamandastron as the great, great grandson of Tammo De Fformelo Tussock and Pasque Valerian, two of the most famous Long Patrol hares to live at the mountain to date. He did not remember how he met Leonardo Williams. He was told that Leonardo was found on a patrol and brought to the mountain fortress as an orphan, then was raised by the badger lord himself at about the same time Dassiter was born. Lord Barbourn the Brawler, then new to the mountain himself, cared an incredible amount for his foster son, Leonardo, and was his father figure in every way. As they grew, Leonardo and Dassiter became close and eventually achieved the rank of Long Patrol scouts. Both were good at it. The two were rarely seen apart; it was obvious that they would be lifelong friends.

Then, on a multi-day loop they ran to the south in late autumn, they came across something horrible: an entire village of creatures who had been living on the shore had been burned to the ground. There was but one elderly survivor, who was fatally wounded, with a knife thrust in his back. When asked who he was or what happened, he would only mutter, "The Menaces! The Menaces! Save us from Dakunda and his devilish offspring! Save us! They took our ship, our schooner! I tried to fight them off for my village, but they stabbed me in the back with my own weapon! Oh, save me, please save me from The Menaces! I beg of ye, I beg of ye!" Nothing could be done for the old creature. Dassiter and Leonardo stayed with him until he finally gave in to his injuries. They tried their best to comfort the elder, but all he would say is "The Menaces are coming! They've taken the sea and will soon take the land, too!"

It took some time, but Dassiter and Leonardo made their ways back at Salamandastron and informed the badger lord of what had happened. Unfortunately, there was not much that Barbourn could do. "Whoever this 'Menace' is, he is now out at sea and out of our reach. But do not fret, Mossflower has this great fortress to look after it. We are well equipped for anything that may come from the sea. As for now I am sorry, but there is nothing that I can do to stop 'The Menace' beyond what we are already doing anyway."

Leonardo was convinced that this 'Menace' was going to attack the mountain fortress, despite Dassiter's reassurance that nobeast would be foolish enough to do so. Dassiter's friend suffered from nightmares of meeting this mysterious group of raiders often. He watched as his friend became more and more unstable and even began to hallucinate. Dassiter did all that he could to help his friend, but his efforts were useless. He may as well have only been there to watch.

Events reached their climax late one night when Leonardo, thinking her to be a vermin infiltrator, stabbed and killed a lieutenant. Lord Barbourn the Brawler was left with no choice but to banish his son from the mountain for the safety of the others.

"You have shamed us all with this behavior," Barbourn said, "I know you are afraid of this 'Menace' but this is too much! The fact that you killed one of my highest acclaimed lieutenants in my Long Patrol is unacceptable in every case. You are to leave this mountain fortress until you can prove yourself of a mental state that would allow you to stay here. I'm sorry my son, but I must banish you for the safety of others." Without another glance, the badger lord turned and reentered the mountain, leaving young Leonardo to sit in shame outside of Salamandastron's great walls. As the doors closed behind Barbourn, Dassiter ran to him.

"Lord Barbourn, sah! Requestin' permission to speak, sah!"

"Granted, Mr. Tussock."

Dassiter's short footpaws moved in triple-time to keep up with the hulking frame of the badger lord's steady walk. "Sah, you should send someone after Leo to keep an eye on him—"

Barbourn gave a hard glare at Dassiter, which silenced him. "Are you telling me how to do my job, Mr. Tussock?"

The young hare gulped, "No, sah! Wouldn't think of 't, sah! I am only giving a suggestion, sah!"

"Well who do you think the best candidate would be to send after Leo? This is a mission that could very well last a lifetime, I have you know. I am not about to force just any one of my hares to assist a beast who can not be trusted alone as is."

Dassiter looked down in thought for merely a second before craining his head back up to the badger lord, "Then send me, sah. I will make sure nothing bad befalls Leo. Make it _my_ mission, sah."

Since that day, Leonardo dedicated himself to tracking down 'The Menace' and bringing his head back to Salamandastron to prove to the badger lord that he was not crazy, and that he helped rid the seas of a monster. All of this in the hopes that he would be accepted back once more. Dassiter went along for his assignment (which was never known to Leonardo), but also for the thrill of the adventure and to help his friend in the search. The two built a ship, a small thing which only ended up being a temporary solution. It would be a few seasons until the pair obtained a modified, two-masted caravel. One specifically designed for catching _The Cry of Amun_ , 'The Menace's' ship. Once it was completed, it was renamed the _Seaspark_ to represent a small part of the badger lord's famous forge flame on the ocean. As the two traveled, they picked up different creatures along the way who had also sworn vengeance on 'The Menace', gaining knowledge of the villain as they did. Soon they had a full force onboard their ship and they had been tracking Deamal ever since. It had been so long that Dassiter even lost his Salamandastron hare speech and picked up the speech of seafarers.

Dassiter had always pitied Leonardo. It was this villain that had caused him so much pain that it hurt Dassiter as well. Lord Deamal the Menace and his ship, a two-masted schooner called The _Cry of Amun_. It was something Dassiter knew would never end.

He resumed looking through his spyglass at the ship, it was now close enough to see details. Focusing in on the bow, Dassiter could see a tall, lean Pine Martin with a curved sword looking straight at him as if he had no need for his own spyglass to see. Such a royal appearance could not but be admired, but Dassiter immediately had a feeling in his gut: this was no ordinary sea vessel. A cold sweat broke on his forehead when he saw something else which confirmed Dassiter's fears. Underneath this creature read one faded phrase: _The_ _Cry of Amun_. The alarm that took hold of Dassiter temporarily made him lose his speech, but in an instant, the crew heard a very sharp cry from the hare.

"Somebeast get Captain Leonardo _immediately_!" 


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Within minutes, the _Seaspark_ was fully ready for battle. Every single beast on board was armed to the teeth and awaited orders patiently. Captain Williams strode out onto the deck dressed in his finest military uniform. He wore his scarlet coatee with a tricorne hat and a pair of freshly shined boots. His short sword and throwing ax hung on either side of his belt and swung rhythmically from side to side as he marched forth. He was every bit a military leader. Dassiter, who wore a coatee of a deep blue, approached the captain, the gravity of the previous argument all forgotten in the electrifying moment. "Awaiting your orders, sir. Everybeast is armed and at the ready."

"Good, bring Wearul up here to the main deck."

"Yes sir, right away!"

After a very brief moment, Wearul was on the main deck, gagged and paws bound. "What would ye like done, captain?" asked Marius.

Without taking his eyes off the ship on the horizon, he ordered, "Hang him from the main mast. I want Deamal to see it."

Lord Deamal watched the dangling figure from the mast, but did not think twice about who it was until Talom announced that it was Wearul, the former cook's assistant of the ship.

"Huh, so that's where he ended up," said Deamal, "not much different from my own plans. But how could they know he was of my crew if I have never seen this ship before?"

"Perhaps they've been looking for us, my lord? Or perhaps this is merely a coincidence?"

"No, nobeast with a sane mind would be willing to charge into these waters for a fight with us. We are dealing with creatures out for revenge. If they want it bad enough, this fight will not be an easy one. Is the ship prepared for battle?"

"Yes, my lord, we are all armed and ready!"

"Excellent! They will pass the island before we do. Perhaps Saberfin can take them off our paws eh?"

It was clear Talom was nervous, "Aye captain, I hope..."

Placing a reaffirming paw on his shoulder, The Menace comforted his crewbeast, "Fret not, my friend. Tell me, who is your captain?"

Without hesitation, "Lord Deamal the Menace."

"And who has kept you alive thus far?"

Looking at the captain, "Lord Deamal the Menace."

"Good, and who will keep you alive so long as your serve me?"

Looking back over the water, Talom still seemed worried, "Lord Deamal the Menace… But captain, the ship is not the problem, it's... S-S-Saberfin!"

The villainous pine marten grabbed Talom by the scruff of his neck and nearly held him out over the ship's rail, "If I said you had nothing to worry about, you will not worry–"

"No Captain," Pointing out over the water, very near the caravel, Talom showed the captain a massive shape emerge from the water, "Saberfin!"

"All paws on deck! It's Saberfiiiin!"

The crew of the _Seaspark_ scattered all over the ship, manning their various posts and rearming themselves with anything that could be thrown at the monster. All was quiet but for a moment, then an overwhelming shadow passed the ship, blocking out the sun. It was the Saberfin, who had leaped out of the water. It was the size of the caravel itself, and its top fin was higher than the main mast! Everybeast stared in awe at the sheer size of the thing. Captain Leonardo dropped his throwing ax as it passed, never in all of his seasons had he seen a creature of such size! He breathlessly stared into the eye of the monster, and it stared back into the eyes of another. It had a sword coming straight out of its face and a sail on its back nearly the size of the _Seaspark_ 's. Its top half was as blue as the ocean, with a transition to yellow halfway down its side, then to white. For one silent moment, all was at a stop. The massive fish seemed to hang in the air for a brief period of time with water pouring off of its sides and cascading into the ocean, not making a sound. _This is no monster_ , thought the mad captain, _this is beautiful!_

Then the moment was over and the untouched Saberfin submerged past the ship with an awakening crash. Everybeast gawked in sheer amazement at the size of the creature. None had attacked it. The captain was quickly taken back to reality as the tail of the fish smashed into the _Seaspark_ , shaking it violently and causing many to fall back.

"Is everybeast alright?" Called Dassiter, standing up.

"We're all set! Captain we're awaiting orders!" Cried a voice.

"Did ye see the size of that thing?! It was incredible–no— _beautiful_!" Exclaimed Captain Williams.

"Get it together, captain, we're in serious danger here! We need orders!"

"I can't believe it, I half expected it to take flight!" Running to Dassiter and shaking him by the shoulders, he looked at him with cloudy eyes, "Did ye see it?! It was magnificent, awe-inspiring!"

 _Thud!_

Leonardo hit the deck hard, Dassiter stood over him with a still clenched fist. "Snap out of it!" he cried. Leonardo pulled a bloody paw away from his mouth and looked at it in disbelief. "Leo, I'm sorry but this is no time for such behavior. You're the blinkin' _captain_!"

Leonardo said nothing. The whole crew watched in stunned silence. An occasional glance at the water was made by all.

"Dammit, Leo what are your orders?!"

The captain wiped the blood off of his face but did not get up. He stretched out his paw to Dassiter, who hesitated for a moment. As soon as the hare grabbed the Leonardo's paw, he was flipped over onto his back with Leonardo's sword at his neck. "Don't ye dare lay a paw on me, Tussock! I am no force to be reckoned with."

"Kaptain, what are ye doing?! Get offer 'im!" Gorm yelled in alarm.

"Leo, listen to me, ye don't wanna do this." Babbled Dassiter, "C'mon bud, we're pals, we're pals, eh?" The captain pressed the blade closer. A thin stream of blood trickled down the hare's neck, who winced and pulled his head back, "You've jus' been actin' odd s'all! Jus' put the blade down, put it down. That's it, easy, easy."

The two stood up. Dassiter immediately backed away rubbing his neck. "This is ridiculous! We want a captain, not a madbeast!" He said.

"You're not well Leo. We're worried about you, we really are." Added Bellus.

Still holding his sword Leonardo retaliated, "No, you're not. You all want me gone! I heard what was said on Amijowi! All of you are traitors, liars, mutinous! Sneaking Runty into my cabin to get rid of me, did you _really_ think I wouldn't notice?!"

All was silent. Dassiter's face went white like a sheet upon realizing what he had done. "Leo, please listen, we were doing it for the sanity of the crew I-I-I didn't know–"

"Shut up!" Snarled the mouse, "The fact that you'd go behind my back— I should throw you all overboard. I'd be better off without any of you!" He paused for a moment. Nobody dared speak or even look at the water for the Saberfin. "If you want me gone so badly, go ahead." He waved his sword in the air. "You can face me for the title of captain! Send forth whomever you choose. You can take my power away from my cold, dead, paws!"

"Calm down, sir, nobody is going to want to fight you. We have bigger problems in the water around us!" Said Ellyvin.

Without warning, the captain turned and slashed to his right, but nobody was even there. "Get away, get away from me!" The crew looked on in disbelief, who was he trying to fight? Nobody was even remotely close to him! The captain continued to yell and roar from foe to nonexistent foe.

"He's hallucinating!" Exclaimed Kiril, finally figuring it out.

"Great seasons, he really has gone mad, hasn't he!" Added Ronar.

"Somebeast bind him up before he hurts himself." Ordered Dassiter.

"C'mon Marius, we'll hold him down!" Said Runty

But as Runty ran forward, the Saberfin struck again. It launched itself at the ship, this time from the opposite side. The vessel was tossed like a child's toy and everybeast was knocked down.

"Oh my gosh, Runty!" Cried a voice. Others looked up at the sight on the main deck with horror. The captain had run him through with his sword.

"Murderer!" Shouted Ronar with great anger. " _Murderer_!"

The captain stared at the corpse, a look of alarm was still on the slain mouse's face. Tears filled the captain's eyes and he dropped to his knees and cradled the limp body."Oh Runty, I'm so sorry mate, I'm so sorry..."

The first mate spoke up, giving every effort to stay military strong while staring at the sight before him. "Leonardo, this has gone too far! You are no longer in any shape to serve as captain of this vessel. I am stripping you of your rank. Permanently. I will be filling the position from now on."

Leonardo looked up in disbelief. His face was wet with tears and his paws were red with blood. He tried to speak but could not find any words to say.

"We're sorry, sir. But you've become too unstable to maintain." Said Marius the otter. "This is just too much."

"Lord Barbourn would be ashamed." Said Dassiter, a final blow for the now former captain. He winced and looked down at the face of Runty, whom he cradled closely. At that moment, all will he ever had to succeed was replaced by shame. There was no longer a thing in the world that was lower than he was. He was reliving the moment he had when he had slain the corporal hare at Salamandastron. "Bind him up." Said Dassiter. Leonardo made no attempt to fight back.

No sooner had the former captain been tied to the main mast had Saberfin struck again. Everybeast braced themselves against the impact of the massive thing.

"Quick, to arms!" Ordered Captain Tussock "When it comes back, throw what you've got at 'im! We're gonna send this gataan[1] back to the deep from whence it came. For Runty!"

"Strike hard, strike true!" Yelled Kiril.

"Strike hard, strike true!" The crew echoed like thunder.

Sure enough, after a brief moment the Saberfin reemerged, this time jumping over the spar at the front of the ship. "Fiiiirre!" Shouted Captain Dassiter, throwing a spear at the monster. The projectiles sunk into the Saberfin's body, some deeper than others and a trail of blood became visible when it submerged again. "Hold fast and stand ready. When ye get a clear shot, take it!" Said the hare, "Use the blood trail as a locator!"

Twice more, the monster jumped near the ship, each time thrashing at it. Twice more, the brave crew of the _Seaspark_ filled it with spears, arrows, knives, axes, and anything else that came to paw. The water eventually became too red to see a clear trail from the beast. The storm neared as the battle enraged wave after wave of the giant monster's attacks.

From a distance, the crew of the _Cry of Amun_ looked on with wide eyes. Deamal and Talom each were looking out at the horizon with spyglasses. "They won't last long," said Deamal, "Hard to starboard, Drath! Take us into the storm and out of these waters, it's foolish to stay."

"Yes my lord, hard to starboard!"

Looking through his spyglass once more at the unfolding scene, Deamal spoke to himself, "Such bravery cannot but be admired."

"Fiiiirre!" More projectiles stuffed the Saberfin before it submerged. However, the ship was taking serious damage from the tail of the monster.

"Keep going! We got 'er right where we want her!" Shouted Dassiter.

One last time the beast leaped from the water, then did not come back up after one, two, three minutes.

"Is it dead?"

"I dunno, where is it?"

"Look, there she is!"

"No you idiot, that's a barrel from the ship!"

"Maybe she's 'ad enough?"

"I can't see anything, there's too much stuff in the water!"

"I...I think we got it!"

"Then where is it?"

This continued for some time. Then, assuming the beast was dead, the crew of the _Seaspark_ let out a cheer, stamping their paws and slapping each other on the back, even Leonardo smiled. However, Bellus the mouse was skeptical.

"What's wrong Miss Bellus? Don't ye know we've won?" Said Marius.

"I don't know what it is, mate, but something doesn't add up. If the beast were dead, wouldn't we see a body? And if it's gone away, wouldn't we see a trail in one direction? I think it's still alive."

"Bellus, that thing looked like a pincushion! I don't think it's coming back up."

 _Thud!_

The whole ship rocked back and forth. Mumbles among the crew could be heard.

"What was that?!"

"It's the monster, it's not dead!"

"No, no! It's the rest of the monsters of the abyss!"

"But they've all been killed off! This area only kept the name!"

"There it is! It's coming towards the ship!" Yelled Bellus. Everybeast looked towards the port side of the ship and saw a wave traveling towards the _Seaspark_ at an alarming rate.

"Everybeast brace yourselves, it's gonna ram us!" Ordered Captain Tussock. The suspense until impact lasted for what felt like several minutes.

Then, everything unfolded very quickly. A massive rapier came up from the bottom of the ship on the port side. There was a massive explosion of splinters as the rapier ripped through the sea-spray hardened boards. The Saberfin began to violently thrash about so that it could free itself from the ship, throwing the vessel around like a stone from a sling. It gradually started ripping the ship apart. Water filled the cargo hold in a flood, the main mast cracked under the pressure of the giant weapon, the ship was only going to be able to take so much. Cries from the wounded filled the air.

"We've a beast down over here!"

"Medic! Hang in there buddy, helps comin'."

"Please somebeast, help me! Agh!"

"We need medical help now!"

"Captain, it's destroying the ship! What d' we do?!" Cried Kiril Silverthorn.

The new captain thought quickly, he could not let the _Seaspark_ fall, it was his home! He had to think of something and quick, but what?

"Captain, orders!" Repeated Kiril.

Dassiter was struggling to find a solution.

"Captain, please! It's battering the ship to a pulp!"

This was when it hit him, "That's it!" Shouted Captain Dassiter, "Kiril, you're a genius! All able beast get to the battering rams now!"

"Quickly, to the rams!" Relayed Bellus. Before going below deck, she looked back at the former captain, still bound to the shattered main mast. His head was looking up at Wearul, also tied to the main mast and swinging around in the violence. With a frustrated sigh, she made her way to the lower deck.

The lower deck was a mess. Supplies were smashed everywhere and the rams were completely off of their tracks. "Get the rams working. Hurry, or we'll sink!" Yelled Dassiter. The crew set to work with amazing speed, having to work around the giant rapier in the ship. The urgency of the situation drove them harder than ever. They threw everything aside in an effort to clear the ram tracks. Chests, crates, and barrels were all thrown out of the way, time was of the essence! With the area clear, now came the challenging part. The rams had to be placed on the tracks with the ship swinging from side to side and water splashing in.

"Hurry, everybeast over here!" Ordered Captain Tussock. Once all paws were at the ready, he yelled above the monster, "Ready, and lift!" The ram slowly came up. They all rocked to and fro with the ship, but held on tightly. It was a struggle to get it onto the track, but it was done. However, half the able beasts had to hold it in place whilst the others got the other ram, which proved to be a bigger challenge. Even so, they worked hard and efficiently. It was dropped once, but the second attempt found the ram finally hooked onto the second track.

"Open the hatches and prepare to charge!" Ordered the captain. The hatches opened out and two round eyes stared in. They could not have been more perfectly placed. "On three! One..." The ship shook worse than ever under the thrashing of the Saberfin, but the crew held strong.

Ellyvin turned around and saw water starting to come up onto the lower deck. There was no time to waste! She shouted, "Three!"

The crew of the _Seaspark_ charged forward with yells and screams that shook the air and sent two spiked battering rams into the eyes of the Saberfin like torpedoes. The creature jerked backward with the force and pulled away. It took the rams and a major chunk of the ship down with it. Back down to the depths from whence it came.

A cheer sounded from the whole crew as the monster sunk deeper and deeper, never to rise again. But the celebration was not to last. The ship was destroyed beyond repair and, even worse, the storm had set in fully.

"Captain!" Said Kiril, "The ship is sinking. We need to get to shore immediately. I'm sorry sir, but our _Seaspark_ 's lost. We need to abandon ship."

All went silent and looked upon Dassiter for orders. He was very quiet, "Never did I dream that this day would come. The day where I abandoned ship with Deamal in my sight."

"We all saw him too, captain, we'll get another chance at revenge. But in order to do that, we need to live to fight another day." Said Ellyvin, "Captain, we can't save the ship, but we can save ourselves. You need to order to abandon ship!"

"Listen to her, Dassiter," Added Marius, "It's the smart choice to make."

Dassiter looked around. He knew that it had to be done. The ship was just as much his as it was Leonardo's. Putting his paw on the woodwork, he spoke quietly to it, "I'm sorry girl, we had a good run, eh? Thanks for everything..." Turning to his crew, he straightened his shredded coatee and gave his orders, "Abandon ship! Board the remaining lifeboats an' make way for the island of Hsif-Drows. We'll rendezvous on the beaches there. Load the wounded in first, we need to get them medical attention as soon as we make landfall. Our mission ain't over yet, mates!"

Dassiter hopped up to the main deck and ran to the main mast where Leonardo had been held. But when he got there, there was only a pile of rope at the base of the mast. _Somebeast probably got 'im already_ he thought and he leaped into a lifeboat.

As the lifeboats rowed to shore in the midst of the storm, another containing just one soul onboard was rowing away from the island. Leonardo Velox Williams rowed harder than he had ever before. He had to get away. Get away from the others, he was no longer one of them, but a madbeast and a monster. He rowed and kept his eyes locked on what was all he had ever known his whole life. He had brought an immense shame upon himself. He had to get away. He looked forward and watched the candle lights flicker out in the galley of the ship. He saw as wave after wave of the sea pounded into his beloved _Seaspark_ and tear it to shreds. He would have gone down with the ship as the captain, but that privilege was stripped from him. He had to get away. He watched as the main mast glowed with Saint Elmo's fire and was finally struck by lightning, blowing the mast into a thousand splinters. He watched as the glass windows in the galley gave way and water poured in with the weight of the whole sea. He watched as the wind blew the sailcloth away and the cargo floated to the surface. As he rose on a swell, he saw a lantern hanging on another lifeboat and tried to make out the faint shapes onboard. Finally, he watched the _Seaspark_ disappear beneath the waves of the ocean. Never again would he see his beloved spark from Salamandastron's forge; it was forever extinguished. He could never show his face among his former crew again. And so he had to get away.

* * *

[1] Gataan: a fictional derogatory name used in the world of Redwall.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Maximus was working hard on Xoer's project. He could not wait to see the thing completed and he figured Xoer was even more eager. To think that the mongoose spent a full _ten seasons_ on the island. It was only Maximus' third day and he was already sick of it.

"Time for lunch, matey!" Said Xoer enthusiastically. Xoer was happy to have somebeast to finally talk to and, a bit to Maximus' annoyance, he took every chance he could to do so. Maximus learned everything about him, his life living in Mossflower, his friendship with Nol, his favorite memories, all leading up to the moment they met.

The island was so peaceful, luxurious even. It had all the food and water necessary to make a creature happy if you knew where to look for it. One would have no idea that there was a massive sea monster with a rapier (which they did not know was dead) preventing any escape from the place. It was all beauty on the surface, but under the waves it was hell. Xoer Valderez's invention would allow them to bypass that area and get them to the safety of Mossflower woods in no time. The two were in high spirits and chattered away the time. Maximus nearly leaped out of his skin when almost a score of exhausted creatures stumbled into camp. Without wasting another second, the otter grabbed his spear and stood at the ready, "Get behind me mate! I don't know if these guys mean trouble."

But Xoer reassured him, "My friend, anybeast who comes to this island doesn't do it on purpose, these ones must've crashed in the storm. Ahoy there! Are you all alright?"

A tall hare dressed in a tattered navy coatee stepped forward from the group, "Please sirs, 'elp us! Our ship was destroyed by the Saberfin and we're hurt and hungry. Could ye spare a morsel of food for us?"

Xoer ran forward, "We'll get ye guys fixed up, don't ye worry! There's food a-plenty here... Well, this is if yer willin' t' do some careful searching. Maximus, go fetch some herbs and dressing!"

"Aye aye, sir!" The young otter darted off into the woods for a short while and returned with bunches of herbs and dock leaves. 

* * *

It had been four days since the _Seaspark_ had been lost. Leonardo Velox Williams laid on his back and kept the bench over his head for some shade. He licked his dry lips and groaned with frustration. Everything he had ever had was gone now. All that he could do was lay there and wait to die. The thought of being so close to his goal one moment and so far away the next was agonizing. A grumble came up from his stomach and he winced with pain. Seagulls circled overhead, waiting to pick his bones dry. Or at least dryer than they were. He had not had any water in so long. _Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink._ he thought to himself. If he had the strength, he would have killed one of the gulls with a sling. But even standing up seemed like too difficult a task at the time. _I'll be dead before sundown._ With this thought still in his head, he fell asleep for what he hoped to be the last time. 

* * *

"Hold still, mate, or I'll never get this thing dressed!" Dassiter winced as Maximus dressed his head wound. "The others say you killed Saberfin while fighting off a murderous mad captain, is that true?"

Dassiter felt both proud and saddened by this question, "Aye, we killed it! But that weren't no murderer. He was my friend, mad as he was. It was all a misunderstanding. Ye see, he was hallucinating that creatures were out to get 'im. He swiped at imaginary figures and then the Saberfin knocked our ship. All of us got knocked down by the force, but our lad Runty was the one who fell on the blade."

"I'm so sorry. Well, I guess Xoer's project won't be entirely necessary with the sea-monster gone. What a pity. Not that Saberfin's dead, oh, no, that's a good thing! But a pity that he's spent so long on it and doesn't even need it anymore..."

"I wouldn't say that, I think it's a brilliant idea, Saberfin or no Saberfin. Xoer filled me in on how it'll work." Dassiter paused for a moment, "Say, you haven't happened to see a tall mouse wearing a coatee jus' like mine runnin' around lately, have you?"

"Sorry sir, I haven't. Another asked about him too, the pretty mousemaid I think. She seemed awful concerned about it."

"Ah, that'll be Bellus; she an' the captain were close. Where could he have gotten to?"

"I'm assuming this mouse was the 'mad captain'?"

Dassiter sighed, "Sadly yes. We haven't been able to find him since the ship sank. Each of us assumed that he was with us until we got t' shore an' took stock of ev'rybeast! He was my best friend, and I think it's all my fault that we destroyed him. He ne'er meant to kill Runty and they know it. They're just angry at themselves for not being able to stop it from happening."

"Ah, I can relate to that," Said Maximus in reply. "I'm on this island because I couldn't kill a corsair to save my friend. I can still see 'im: a pine martin with his tattooed eyes and wesekh around his neck. He had golden cuffs with rubies in them and eyes black as night. He killed my friend, stabbed him right in the back with his own weapon. He's the same beast who got Xoer stuck here."

Dassiter's ears perked up with alarm. Memories of that day on the beach many seasons ago flooded through his thoughts, _I tried to fight them off for my village, but they stabbed me in the back with my own weapon! Oh, save me please, save me from The Menaces! I beg of ye, I beg of ye!_ "Do you remember what his name was?"

"There, that should do it! Huh? Oh, his name um, I think they were all chanting 'Menace'. Why do you ask?"

Dassiter lightly touched his bandage. Satisfied, he got up and began walking away. "I think we all have a common enemy, mate."

That night, everybeast gathered around a fire, all bandaged and well fed and listened to what Xoer had to say. He was going over some plans for an escape off the island. He had already learned of Saberfin's death that day but insisted on using his contraption regardless. "Saberfin may have been the biggest and the baddest," he said, "but the other monsters of the abyss 're still alive today, believe it er not, and they'd be capable o' destroying a ship within minutes! So, I have taken the liberty of redesigning the plans for escape and put it on a bigger canvas, as you can see behind me. With all of ye here to help me finish it, we should be up and running within a week's time! It would've been sooner, but again, ah had to redesign the thing to accommodate the extra crew and supplies. It'll be tough work and very long days, I have no doubt about it. But it'll buy us freedom from this hell hole and get us to safety faster than any ordinary sea vessel ever could. Luckily, already having the technology developed shaves down about nine seasons or so of just getting to the planning phase! Anyway, you've all a long day tomorrow. Maximus an' I will give you all instructions on the morrow, so you best get some shut eye now!" Within a blink of an eye, Xoer grabbed a bucket of water he had from behind him and dumped the contents onto the fire. When the big plume of smoke lifted, he was snoring under a blanket. Dassiter looked at the spectacle chuckled.

"Well, I guess we'd better get to sleep too." said Ellyvin, "G'night all!" The group dispersed and got situated at various spots around Xoer's campsite. The campsite itself was humble. It was a very large clearing in the middle of a set of thick woods. In the Center of the clearing laid a flat-bottomed ship hull propped upright. The only thing that was really missing was a set of masts and sails. Other than that, it was just like any other vessel on the sea (minus the barnacles, of course). In the northwest corner of the camp was a lean-to with a crate for a chair and a large piece of tree bark with the new charcoal designs of the contraption Xoer was making. Just next to the lean-to was a stockpile of assorted wooden and stone tools. On the opposite side of the camp was a workbench with a series of makeshift tools laying around it.

Dassiter laid down on the ground and looked up at the stars, letting his mind wander wherever it wanted to. He thought about his friend, Leonardo, first. Where he could be, various scenarios as to what became of him... Was he _alive_? Was he on the island too, or rotting at the bottom of the ocean with the Saberfin? He wished he had done things differently and saved his friend his sanity and happiness. He thought about Salamandastron, his origin. He imagined the ways it could have changed and how everyone was doing. Surely it was still under Lord Barbourn's control. What would his life have been like if he had stayed there? Maybe he would have been a high ranking officer by now like his great, great grandfather had been. What would Leonardo have been like had he not killed a hare, or if they never saw the destruction Deamal's father had left on the village? He wished they had not ever set out to hunt the vermin in the first place. It had consumed so much of his life! All the seasons he could have spent at Salamandastron instead of on a wild goose chase where the one time they actually did find the Menace, their ship was ripped out from under them and he was lost again. Thankfully, Xoer's contraption would lessen the time it took to relocate the Menace. What would he do when they finally caught him? He had given it thought before and assumed that he would return to the mountain fortress as a hero. However, now that he would be returning without his friend, he did not know if he could go back at all. He entered this search with Leonardo, and he wanted to end it with Leonardo. Sane or insane. 

* * *

Leonardo awoke with a start. _Why am I still alive?_ He thought. He did not want to move, it was too much energy. He listened to the wind whip, the gulls screech, the waves crash on the beach, the— beach?! He sat up abruptly and looked about, ignoring the pounding headache that followed. He was on an island! Scampering out of the lifeboat, he fell upon the sand and kissed it. _Where am I?_ He looked up at the scenery around him. It was lush and beautiful. The sand on the beach was as white as the clouds above. The dense jungle perimeter was hardly a hundred feet ahead. Towards the South, he could see a small mountain that dominated the landscape. "This is Amijowi!" He said aloud. Knowing immediately where he could find food and water, he stumbled into the woods.

He did not make it far by the time he collapsed the first time: hardly a hundred yards. Laying on the ground, he watched the world spin for a moment, then he got up again. This time he made it about ten feet before tripping on a root and falling flat. He groaned with annoyance and frustration. After wandering about for a small while, Leonardo realized he had forgotten his sense of direction and was lost. _Water would help me remember... But where can I get it?_ He fell again and groaned.

"What're you moanin' about? Get up, the stream is over that way!" Sitting up slowly, Leonardo grabbed an overhanging limb to pull himself to his feet. "Good, now see that stick to your right? Pick it up and use it as support." Leonardo did as he was told and leaned on the staff heavily. "Now head north, there's a brook with fresh water there." Again, the tall mouse did as he was told and soon found the brook. Tumbling into it, he drank for what seemed like several minutes. Finally, Leonardo hauled himself up onto a dry bank and sat with his back against a boulder. "Don't worry mate, I'll get us back up to health in no time!"

Just then, it finally hit Leonardo that he had been listening to another voice giving directions. Looking about, he asked aloud, "Thank you for helping me. I guess I didn't bother to think about who was talking to me at first! I'm Leo, who're you?"

The voice that answered seemed to come from far away in every direction, "My name's Simon."

"Where exactly are you, Simon?" Replied Leonardo, still looking around for the creature.

The voice laughed, it could not me much older than a dibbun[1]! "I'm here, in your head!" Now Leonardo was afraid. He stood up and ran from the bank until he was certain the creature could not be within earshot. "Tsk, tsk, you can't lose me _that_ easily!" It giggled. The voice was clear and nearby. Leonardo ran to the ocean and stood in the water up to his knees. Now if the creature wanted to talk to him, they would have to show themselves first!

"Ok Simon, show yourself!" Ordered Leonardo.

The voice seemed to come from within a few feet from him, "Look down and you'll see me." It whispered. Looking down, Leonardo saw what looked like a mouse. A scruffy mouse with fur going in every which way, bags under his eyes, lips that were cracked and leathery looking, whiskers that had grayed, teeth that were yellowed, dried blood under the nose and two eyes that were restless. This was when it hit him, he was staring at his own reflection in the water!

"But... how?" He said with tears welling up in his eyes, "How can you be inside of my head? I'm no mad..." He stopped abruptly in his sentence, "No, no, no, noo! Dassiter said it, but I didn't think it to be true!"

"Say it." Said Simon.

"No, I won't!"

"Say it!" He ordered.

Leonardo blinked away his tears, "No, I won't do it!" His voice quivered.

"I said say it, you piece of filth!"

"A... A madbeast."

"Louder!" It roared.

"A madbeast!" Screamed Leonardo.

Taking on a cheery tone, Simon spoke again, "There ya go mate! Don't worry, acceptance is the toughest part. I think you'll grow to like me in the future, just wait."

"What makes you think I won't find a way to get you out of me?"

"You can't reverse insanity, my friend. C'mon we're hungry and should eat. Hey, I think I like the sound of that, _we_."

Leonardo's stomach growled and he winced with pain, he had not eaten in days. Without another word, he proceeded into the tropical woods. 

* * *

[1] Dibbun: a name used in the world of Redwall to describe one who is of the age of a toddler or of a relatively young age.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Running, jumping and leaping around, onto and over everything in his way, Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock raced across the island one last time towards Xoer's camp. He had been out searching for Leonardo all night and had lost track of time. Although he was unsatisfied with the results of his search, he was eager to get off of the island and see Xoer's contraption work. It was assumed that the former captain was dead. Dassiter knew the crew would be upset to hear the news of his search, some less than others, but they had agreed that if it came to it they would have put the captain out of his misery anyway. Thankfully, the ocean must have done it for them; nobeast truly wanted to kill him.

Coming up onto a hill, he stretched up onto his paw tips and looked towards camp. A large white bulge appeared above the clearing. Whooping with delight, the hare raced forward to the clearing, arriving just in time to see a sight never before seen.

There the ship stood, or rather flew! It had been hung from a massive balloon being constantly filled with steam and hot air. The ship's hull was a bit smaller than the _Seaspark_ 's but shaped to a slope on the sides and a completely flat bottom, this was to allow a landing on both water and flat land. It also had no hatches like the _Seaspark_ had. The balloon was longer than the ship itself and made completely out of a light sailcloth and supported on the inside by a thin wooden frame to prevent a gust of wind from blowing the canvas in on itself.

To push the ship forward, there was a propeller attached to the stern of the ship. This was directly linked to a wheel on the interior where two creatures would be stationed and turn the wheel, thus spinning the propeller. There was no galley onboard, just a quickly assembled kitchen; the ship was designed to get off an island, not be luxurious. It was to be steered by placing a rudder behind the propeller that would turn to and fro, just like any other rudder. This would force more air against one side of the rudder and turn the ship in that direction. On the lower deck there were no compartments, just one wide room. Here, all of the stockpiles of food and water were next to the kitchen corner. Also, a series of reed mats were on the floor, these would serve as beds for the time being. Finally, there was an extensive amount of arms for the coming battle with _The Cry of Amun_ (it had been decided that they would pursue Deamal before returning to Mossflower).

"Ahoy Dassiter, hurry up, we're waitin' on ye! Untie the anchor while you're down there!" Shouted Maximus from the ship. Dassiter raced forward feeling like he was still a small scout in the Long Patrol. He cut the rope away from the anchor and held on to it. He was alarmed at how quickly the ship ascended and was soon hanging several meters off the ground. Holding on with great intensity, the hare looked down in amazement. He was flying!

"So this is what the birds see. They must be the happiest creatures in the world!" He said.

"Hey, long-ears, quit swingin' around afore ye kill yerself!" Said Xoer, leaning dangerously over the edge of the ship. Soon Dassiter was on board and joined the many others looking around.

"I don't believe it, we're actually _flying_!" Said Bellus.

"It feels like I'm dreaming," said Ronar Silverthorn.

"How 'bout I throw ye overboard and we'll see if ye wake up!" Jested his brother.

"The island looks so small from up here doesn't it?" Said Ellyvin.

"Hurr, oi think I'm a gonna be sick!" Said a mole by the name of Tarsl Grudd. "Ee watur be's fine, but *Blargh* Oi don't loike ee flyin', no zurr!

"Say, Xoer, where about are we headed?" Said Gorm.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to all of ye about. C'mon, everybeast gather 'round!" Once all (except for the unfortunate airsick mole, who was sitting with his back to the railing and a bucket firmly in his clutch) had been gathered, Xoer proceeded. "By show of paws, does anybeast have an idea as to where The Menace is headed?"

"There was quite a storm the day we saw 'im. I recall seeing the ship escape into it whilst we had our paws full. I bet they'll be stopping someplace for supplies and repairs. Does anybeast have a sea chart?"

"They all sank with the ship," said Dassiter.

"I have one!" Said Maximus, unfolding the large map from around his spear, "It's not complete, but it has a pretty fair amount of range on it." He laid it out on the deck for all to see.

Marius spoke up in his grand bass voice, "It's a great map, Maximus. But the problem is we're around here." He pointed a massive paw at an unfinished portion of the map.

"Hm, somebeast give me some charcoal, I can fill that in." Said Bellus. Immediately, she set to work drawing in as much as she could. "This may take a bit, workin' from mem'ry, ye see. Jus' keep west fer now." 

* * *

The _Cry of Amun_ had endured the storm, but it had also taken monumental damage. The wind had ripped the sails, the waves washed supplies overboard, the foremast had been struck by lightning and was blown to pieces, and just about everybeast onboard was injured to some extent.

Deamal sat on a barrel and conversed with Vladd, the ship's navigator rat, as he got his wounds redressed by a stoat named Samarias. "What progress have you made, Vladd?"

"Sir, I have calculated that if we sail straight east from this point, we will arrive at a land mass within a few days."

"You are being vague, Mr. Vladd."

"Well captain, we lost some of our equipment in the storm and it's still overcast. It will be some time before I can determine our location. However, there is always land to the East!"

The slender pine marten sighed, "Very well, I understand that we are limited in our current predicament. However, as soon as you've the slightest bit of information, you are to let me know, is that understood?"

Vladd stood tall and clicked his boot heels together in salute, "Yes cap'n!"

"Good!" Said Deamal, taking a deep breath of the salty ocean air. "Set all sails to full and set course for east!"

"Er, captain?" Said Vladd timidly.

"We've no sailcloth left, do we Mr. Vladd?" The voice of the pine marten was tired and dreary as he massaged the corners of his black eyes.

"No, captain, there is not a stitch left in the hold or on the masts."

Standing up, he dismissed Samarias and looked about at his crewbeasts. "I am going to my chamber, I need rest. As for the sails, use whatever you can find."

"But captain," said Vladd, "we've nothing to use as sailcloth that'd be sufficient enough to get us moving!"

Stopping in the doorway of his quarters, Deamal turned about to face Vladd on the deck. "That's a nice tunic you have there, mate. There's many other beasts onboard who have similar ones, yes? I bet those would make nice sails if they were stitched together. Mr. Vladd, let me make myself clear. I don't care what you have to do to get my ship to shore but do it and do it quick before I use your pelt for a sail!" Shutting the door behind him, the pine martin slumped behind his desk. Grabbing a bottle of grog, he ripped the cork out with his teeth and filled one of his many jeweled chalices. But when he went to take a sip from it, no drink touched his lips. Upon examining the chalice, he found that there was a crack in its side and his drink had spilled out all over himself. He threw it aside and grabbed another chalice, this one even more jeweled than the last, but found it was also cracked and no drink would hold. Again a third jeweled chalice, a third crack. Finally, he grabbed a dirty wooden cup and filled it. "Huh," he said aloud, "Now why is it that the nicer chalices can't hold their drink, but as soon as I put it in this cruddy bucket, it holds? Maybe I just need t' stop throwin' everything…

"Agh, this reminds me, I need a new ship! This schooner has served me well, but it's old and starting to be a bother. What I need is a new ship, a faster and more efficient one. Perhaps I should get a big trireme and get me some slaves like ole Daskar did. Huh. Din't get 'im far, though... Maybe I should build a temple for meself an' have a fleet at my disposal like Ublaz, now _he_ was a good ruler! Anything that isn't in Mossflower— that coast is locked up tight by Salamandastron. Huh, idiot of a father Dakunda couldn't figure that out. I saw 'is downfall comin' from a season in advance! Dragged my poor sister down with 'im..." He took a big gulp of grog, "I wonder where she would've been today. Ah, probably dead still, never was clever that one, always taking stupid risks like her father...

"Maybe I'll get a caravel with some nice, triangle sails. It'd be nice to be able to sail into the wind instead o' tacking all the time. Yeah, that would be nice... we'll see." The Menace set the chalice down and dozed off for a few moments.

Suddenly he came about with a jolt and sat upright. He had been dreaming again. Dreaming bad dreams, always bad dreams. Always the _same_ bad dreams lately. He wiped a small bead of sweat off of his brow and reflected on what occurred in his nightmare. A tall, wide-eyed mouse stood in front of him, armed with a long cutlass. Every time, he would overpower the mouse until he was about to kill him when an unbearable pain would emerge from his lower back like a thousand knives being thrust through it. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his cup and took a sip. The cup had left a ring on a sea-chart covering his desk. The shape circled a small dot. Upon closer inspection of the map, Deamal found that this dot was Amijowi, a tiny, almost tear-shaped island towards the center of the map. It was such a minuscule thing in the middle of the vast ocean; he thought it to be nothing but a smudge at first.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud from the side of the ship. This was followed by screams and splashing. Deamal grabbed his Khopesh sword and darted out onto the main deck to see what all of the commotion was about. He saw Talom pull two of his own creatures, a rat and a stoat, back onboard. The rat clumsily fell onto the deck. "What is the meaning of this?" Said Deamal sternly. The rat looked up at the captain and tipped his hat to him,

"Sorry cap'n, caught a crab while rowin' ye see!" Every sailor on board, with the exception of Deamal, of course, was nearly naked. By the main mast of the ship, Vladd sat busily sewing the pieces of the new 'sail' together.

All of the onlookers chuckled at the sight of the rat and stoat. Deamal stood shaking with rage. He was not about to have such nonsense on his ship in these conditions! "Silence!" He ordered. Looking at the dripping rat, he put on a mock smile, "Ye caught a crab?"

"Er, Yessir." The stoat next to the rat chuckled,

"Tell me where the oar is."

"Um, back there, captain." Said the stoat, "We 'ave to turn the ship around so we can go back an' get it."

"Turn my ship around?" Deamal's face showed he was dumbfounded at the very thought. "You want me to order my ship, currently being held together by nothin' but spit an' wax at this point, to turn around and waste what precious time we have to find land so we can get your lost oar? Do you take me for a fool, or do you not give a damn about the fact that we have zero supplies and no time to waste?"

The stoat looked worried, "No, no, cap'n I completely understand our time is limited!" Deamal allowed the stoat's words to hang in the air while the rest of the crew looked on in a now stunned silence. Deamal took one step forward, then another, then another until he was a hairsbreadth away from the stoat's face. His midnight eyes stared right through the trembling creature, and then to the crew around them.

"I have no time for nonsense like this. Neither does the rest of the crew who, if I'm not mistaken, would like to get to shore, right?" He said. The crew answered in unison,

"Yes, captain!"

Deamal turned back to the petrified stoat and gave a small snort and smile.

Another splash followed shortly. The crew rushed to the ship's rail, mouths open in sheer amazement at the distance Deamal threw the stoat. He had launched him almost the entire distance to the oar!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10  
**

The sky wore a warm hue of blue and a golden sunlight medallion that sparkled off the turquoise waters of the great Western Sea. A flock of seagulls lazily floating in the morning water quickly startled and flew away in fear as a large ship tied to a balloon flew overhead. Almost everybeast onboard seemed to be in high spirits at a glance. Maximus had made great friends with the squirrel twins, Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn, Bellus made great progress on Maximus' map, even Tarsl Grudd, the airsick mole was feeling better! However, they all hid great guilt and sadness. The former crew of the _Seaspark_ missed their late friends Leonardo and Runty (for it was assumed that the former captain was dead. Some, however, especially Bellus and Dassiter, refused to believe it). Xoer mourned for his lost friend, Nol, and Maximus for Raoul. Anonymous whimpers could be heard in the night from those onboard if you listened closely. Everybeast listened to them, feeling like they could cry, too. However, during the day, they pushed their sadness aside and would enjoy themselves until night came again.

"Hey Xoer, c'mere!" Called Dassiter as he climbed aboard the ship. "I was jus' carving in the name o' the ship, tell me what ye think! I added something that all of us have in common" Xoer looked over the railing at the front side of the ship. Tears filled his eyes as he smiled at the names: _Nol and Runty_

"Thank ye, matey, you've no idea how much this means to me." Said the mongoose. Dassiter put a paw about his shoulder,

"They'd be happy to see us all safe and still adventurin'."

"There we go! It's not perfect, but it'll certainly make do with what we've got." Said Bellus. She had worked through the night, digging deep into the corners of her mind and projecting the findings onto Maximus' map in front of her. "Come take a look!" Creatures gathered around the parchment to see Bellus' work.

"Whoa! Get a load o' this!"

"Aye, mizz Bellus, ye'd make qoite a foine cartographer!"

"No doubt about that, mate. Very professional! How'd ye remember it all?"

The mousemaid blushed at the praise for her work. "Well, you see, when ye spend as many seasons as I have at sea, you remember these things. I used to always be in Leonardo's quarters helpin' him out with his maps, it was always quite a lot of fun!"

"I had no idea!" Exclaimed Dassiter, "Huh, sure explains a lot though; Leo was a terrible drawer! I'd always ask him how he managed to do cartography with expert precision, yet could hardly draw a stick-mouse figure. He would just smile and say a little bird would come to his aid when he needed help. I never would've guessed that you were his 'little bird', though." Bellus smiled and looked down.

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to pinpoint where on this map we are. I trust one of you beasts could figure it out!" She said.

"Do not worry miss Bellus, I will be in charge of that!" Said Gorm. "Now, would somebeast kindly teach me how to read a map!" The deck erupted with laughter as the ship flew on over the horizon.

* * *

It had now been ten full days since the _Seaspark_ sank beneath the waves of the storm. The keel of _The_ _Cry of Amun_ scraped the soft sand of an unknown island in the Western Sea. Tunics, trousers, socks, and bandannas hung sewn together from the main mast in an awkwardly shaped sail. The ship was hardly staying together. Various boards stuck out at odd angles and allowed water to seep into the cargo hold. The once beautiful railing surrounding the ship had been ripped out so that the dowels could be tied together and used as oars. Barnacles smothered the bottom of the hull in a thick layer from stern to bow. Even empty barrels and boxes were dumped overboard to reduce drag. Once the ship landed, Deamal watched his crew flop onto the shore, half dead from their long journey without food and water. "Spread out and search for supplies. First one back with something useful gets a double ration!" He ordered. It was all that he could do to not collapse on the spot himself. But a captain's image of power is everything. If they do not look every bit capable of commanding a vessel, it opens up an opportunity for mutiny to grow. Deamal lived by this guide; it had gotten him far and brought him much success. However, he did not know this island at first glance, so he decided to stay by the ship with two others on watch. The island was small, tropical and lush with a small mountain jutting up to the South. _This is good,_ Deamal thought, _this is very good!_

Meanwhile, deep in the island's jungle, the rat and stoat that had been launched overboard a few days earlier walked about aimlessly together. They wore almost no clothes on their backs and were infested with fleas and lice. Their ribs showed clearly and their stomachs growled in pain. "Find anythin' mate?" Said the rat.

"Not a scrap... ooh hey now, lookit this!" Said the stoat in reply. He pulled out a knife from his belt and hacked at a tree root until it came free. "We can eat these!" He said, smiling and showing off his scurvy-infected gums and crooked teeth.

"Yuck! Let's find some real food instead. Put that crud down and you look that way while I look this way. Shout if ye find anything." The rat watched the stoat stumble off in one direction, and he feigned going in the other until the stoat was out of sight. Immediately the rat fell upon the roots his friend dug up, not bothering to wipe the dirt and mud off.

"Look, Simon, we have a guest!" The rat wheeled about and saw a hideous sight: it resembled a mouse, tall and lean. It had a shredded red coatee, a single boot that was equally as torn, fur that stuck out every which way and a few patches of bald skin. It carried a hatchet and a chipped short sword. The real terror was in its face however. Its whiskers were at uneven lengths, its ears were bleeding, as if it was scratching at them, and its eyes. Its _eyes_! They were the bloodshot eyes of a mad monster. Its stare completely froze the rat in place, he was unable to move!

"W-w-what are you?!" Cried the unfortunate rat.

"What am I?" Said the creature, creeping towards the frozen rat. Its voice was that of darkness, "I am... vengeance!"

The rat's screams caused the stoat's ears to perk up, "Oh good, food!" He said to himself, "Hold on mate, I'm comin'!" The stoat made his way to where the noise came from, charging through the brush without any thought. _Finally, some food!_ He thought to himself. Just then, he tripped on something and tumbled to the ground. Looking to see what he had caught his leg on, he saw his friend, the rat, dead. "Gah! Smeezy, matey, what's 'appened to ye?!"

"Vengeance. I am vengeance. I am. I am vengeance..."

The stoat turned and looked straight into the eyes of the creature, immediately becoming unable to move as if the creature's stare was holding him in place. "Please, don't do it! We was just looking fer food 's all!"

The beast chanted rhythmically as he creeped closer to the stoat he had pinned with his gaze,

"You who are of The Menace, come here and meet your fate. You who are of The Menace, I will send you to hell's gate!"

* * *

Deamal sat in the shade of his ship on the beach with his two guards on either side of him. It had been quite a while since he had been on dry land, he was starting to like the feel of it. While the others were out foraging, he had discovered that the small island he was on was Amijowi, the one he saw on his sea-chart a few days earlier. It certainly was a very habitable place and many sailors had little knowledge of its existence because of its small size. Most would come across it by accident, but true sailors know about the value of small islands and the benefits they can have. Deamal was starting to doze off when Talom and a few others came crashing through the brush with sacs stuffed with food and flasks full of water.

"Captain, we've found food and water!" Talom shouted.

Deamal called back smiling, "Good work my friends, double rations for all of ye!" He watched as they let out a cheer and started dividing up the contents and taking swigs of water. They all ate to their content, filling up on all sorts of berries and exotic fruits they've never tasted before. "Where did ye find it, Talom?"

Before the weasel could answer him, another small party came crashing through the brush. However, this party had expressions of terror stuck to their faces.

"Captain, we need to get off this island, it's not safe here!" One shouted.

Deamal stood up in alarm and drew his khopesh sword. "Thogg, what's the matter, where are all the others, I only see four o' ye?!" Thogg collapsed at Deamal's footpaws. The others kept running until they were knee-deep in the seawater.

"My lord, we were attacked by somebeast– no, some _thing_! Whatever it was, it got Smeezy and Loundert! We tried calling out for poor Loundert, but he could not stop staring into the beast's eyes. Captain, the beast's gaze was freezing 'im in place— he wouldn't move! But the real terror was in what he was chanting. Captain, he knows who you are! It called itself 'Vengeance'."

Keeping his cool, The Menace replied flatly, "Worry not, Talom. Do not forget who I am, after all. As the morning and evening star, I am not surprised that he knows who I am. Every creature on this sea should have it branded on their hearts! Listen closely, Talom. Our ship is crippled, so we must stay on the island until repairs can be made. Next time you go out foraging, take weapons and stick together! There is one of him and a score of us, we will prevail. It is tragic to hear what has become of Smeezy and Loundert. Make sure you have learned your lesson, don't let their deaths go without reason." Talom let go of Deamal's paw and thanked him gratefully.

"Yes captain... Thank you, captain."

Little did the crew of the _Cry of Amun_ know of a foreboding set of eyes that watched the scene on the beach. Leonardo Velox Williams squatted on the ground, cupping his bleeding ears so he could hear the conversations on the shore. He repeated Talom's words to himself as he listened further, "Yes captain, thank you captain yeeheehee! Come to me, spawn of Deamal, Vengeance waits for you!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was now two full weeks since the sinking of the _Seaspark_. Deamal's crew was down four creatures due to the work of the 'Madbeast's Ghost', as he was called amongst them. The crew lived in absolute terror of running into the creature, developing superstitious ways of life to protect themselves. One rat walked around camp with a veil over his head, claiming it would prevent the ghost from freezing him with its stare. Another donned a belt of seaweed to give off odors that warded off spirits. And another had painted a big eye on his chest to divert the ghost's sight away from his face. Captain Deamal was outraged to see such behavior and ordered that any caught practicing strange rituals to protect themselves from the ghost was to be either immediately flogged or sent into the jungle for supplies. Alone.

As one creature was flogged, the pine marten addressed the rest of the crew, "This is what happens to you when you lose faith in your captain. You are all fortunate that I need each and every one of you alive if we are to make it off this rock. I have never tolerated such ridiculous behavior before and never will just because there are different conditions." He walked back and forth in front of the stiff ranks of kneeling crewbeasts. At first, they had served the captain out of loyalty, but now they served out of fear. Not fear of Deamal, however, but fear of the island and its ghost. "You listen to your captain! I don't care if there is a creature out there in the jungle, and I don't care if it wants to kill all of us! We outnumber it a score to one and yet we are still losing numbers. At noon today, I want everybeast armed and ready to march into the jungle." Deamal proceeded, speaking louder and waving his sword in the air, "I will drag this so called 'ghost' by its neck onto the beach and slay it before all of you. Now rise and tell me, who is your captain?"

"Lord Deamal the Menace." Answered the crew in unison

"Who has kept you alive thus far?" He said louder this time.

"Lord Deamal the Menace!"

Now yelling, "And who will keep you alive forever if you continue to serve me?!"

The voices of the corsairs rang out loud and clear around the island, "Lord Deamal the Menace!"

"Then who dare stand against you?!" 

* * *

The _Nol and Runty_ soared through the air gracefully. From sea level, it would appear like something out of a sailor's dream.

Xoer's raspy voice called all paws on deck. Once everybeast had been gathered, he gave out assignments. "Jacques an' Brian, yer on propeller duty! Ronar, you an' Kiril have black paws today." 'Black paws' was the term used to describe the task of keeping the balloon inflated. To do so, a caldron of seawater was heated in a boiler fueled by colza oil. The 'black paws' came from spilling oil on the paws while refueling the boiler's oil supply. Xoer continued, "Bellus, you'll be navigator. Maximus, I need you to take stock o' all onboard supplies. The rest of you, find something to do. Dismissed!"

"Hold on a second, mate. You never assigned a chef!" Called out Dassiter.

"Oh, yer right!" Exclaimed the mongoose. "I forgot to remember that! Umm... Gorm, you'll be the cook. Dismissed!"

A very audible groan came up from the crewbeasts at this last comment.

"Sorry I asked..." Said Dassiter.

"Gorm? A cook?! Bahahahaha yeah, great idea, Xoer! Gorm's the worst cook that's ever lived!" Said Kiril

"Aye, my brother's right! Gorm would burn a salad then go an' kill a score o' dirty searats with the leftovers!"

"We should have let the little beast cook for the Saberfin! Would've saved us a ship, eh?" Added Marius.

Gorm looked about and scowled, "Well I 'ave never been so offended! Herk, to sink zat I was going to cook a fish surprise for you lot!"

"Ooh, that sounds rather nice actually." Said Xoer.

"Nnnoooooooo!" The whole crew looked to the source of the yell. It was the airsick mole, Tarsl Grudd. He sat against the ship's rail with his bucket and looked horrified. "Not again zurr." He whispered, "Not ee fish suproise! Oi'll throw moiself off'n this ship afore oi see that terror again!"

Dassiter pointed at Tarsl Grudd and looked at the mongoose with a slightly serious expression. "See? _This_ is what Gorm's fish surprise does to a beast."

Xoer put his paws up, "Alright, alright, I get it… He just won't make fish surprise!" Another groan came up from the crew.

Later that day at around noon, Kiril called Xoer over to the boiler. The young squirrel looked concerned as he addressed him. "Bad news, cap'n. We're nearly out of oil up here an' Maximus said there's no more barrels below deck. At the rate we're going, we'll be completely dry by midnight!"

But Xoer did not share the concern the squirrels had. "I think that'll make do lads. I've just been informed by Miss Bellus that we'll be coming upon Amijowi Island by early to late afternoon! Just keep yer eyes peeled for it and we'll do just fine!"

The two twins were delighted to hear such news. Standing at a quick attention, they puffed out their chests, threw their oily paws to a stiff salute and said in unison, "Aye-aye, captain!"

Word quickly spread around the airship that they would be making a landfall that night. The _Nol and Runty_ traveled on into the day ahead of it. A little tear-drop of an island waited for them. 

* * *

Deamal and his crew gathered on the beach armed to the teeth and ready to capture 'The Madbeast's Ghost.' The captain walked by his crew towards the front ranks, carrying no weapon other than the khopesh sword in his paw. Rats, ferrets, stoats and weasels alike silently mumbled their superstitious practices under their breath as they marched into the island's jungle. It quickly became too thick to walk as ranks, "Spread out!" Ordered Deamal, still at the front and center of the group. They spread out into a single column of brandished cutlasses and half drawn bows. Slowly they proceeded, staying cautious and being sure to comb the whole area thoroughly. More than once one would startle at the snap of a twig or a bird starting from its nest and yelp with fright. The agonizing process continued for some time.

Then, suddenly, Talom's cries were heard. The presence of the creature was confirmed by the shouts of several other crewbeasts who rushed towards the sounds. Leonardo stood above Talom's limp body, ready to strike him when he saw the others coming. However, despite the fact that he was ruined with madness, Leonardo was still a brave and witty mouse. He used his image to his advantage to halt the oncoming corsairs. They formed a semicircle around him but would immediately cower away and shield their eyes whenever he looked at them. With his back against a thick tree, he would have to go through the crowd if he was to escape them. He took a step forward, the corsairs took a step back. He took another forward and they stepped back again. _Hiss at them! You're a disgusting madbeast, use it to your advantage._ Ordered Simon. The mouse hissed and feigned an attack; this worked with the desired effect. Slowly the line thinned and he made his way forward. He reached for his hatchet but found it was missing. _Forget about it! Just keep moving._ Said Simon.

"But I need it!" Replied Leonardo out loud. The corsairs looked on in petrified silence at the creature; none were brave enough to attack.

Suddenly, an excruciating pain erupted in Leonardo's back and he collapsed to the ground. Never had he felt such a pain in his life. He cried out in agony and he buried his face in the dirt. A powerful set of paws grabbed his by the scruff of his neck and started pulling him. After managing to get himself upright, he stumbled on for a few paces.

This was when the realization hit him. Even though Leonardo stumbled until he dragged his footpaws behind him, screaming and yelping like a wild animal, he paused in it all and gave a chilling cackle. Somehow, despite his grave situation, Leonardo lifted his head and said through the mad laughter, "Hahaheeheehoowah, stabbing me in the back with my own weapon, eh? Now where 'ave I seen that one, Simon? Ah yes, hahaha, it's all clear now–" Before he could finish, he was knocked unconscious by a hard blow to the back of the head.

They reached the beach quickly and Deamal threw the creature into the sand. "Get Talom onto the ship and fixed up, double time!" He said to the crew, "And wake this oaf up! No need to tie him, he's not going anywhere." He added, pointing at the unconscious Leonardo.

Within minutes, the mouse was brought around and was forced to kneel down as Deamal jumped off the ship and approached him. The rest of the crew gathered behind the pine marten. "My friends, you have been deceived by this beast for far too long! You think that he holds a deadly power in his gaze, but behold!" He said, raising a closed bag he had found on Leonardo's belt. Deamal faced his crew and spilled the contents of the bag onto the sand. "They're called moonseed berries, a highly toxic fruit that causes paralysis. This little gataan has been using these to make poison darts; they're the secret to his icy stare." Turning back to Leonardo, he leaned in close to his face and took his head in his paw. "You, my friend, have caused me an immense amount of trouble. Smeezy, Loundert, Throgg, Samarias. Those names don't mean a thing to you, do they?" He slowed his speech to let every word sink into the mouse's bleeding ears. "I am going to kill you very slowly for the things you did to my crew. By the time I am done with you, death will be a wonderful treat... Agh!" Deamal recoiled and wiped spit out of his black eyes. "You will rot for that!" Picking up a paw full of moonseed berries, he ordered, "Open his mouth! I don't want him causing any more trouble for us!" Two rats carried out the orders and Deamal approached Leonardo with the berries. "This'll keep ye occupied for a bit, eh?" 

* * *

Former Captain Williams lay flat on his stomach baking in the sunlight as the afternoon approached. His immobility allowed his back wound to scab effectively. A bucket of fresh water was placed just a few paces in front of his face by Deamal, along with a plate of fresh grapes. The moonseed had rendered him completely immobile. He had been stuck for four full hours now and he was dehydrated and feeling very faint. 'Simon' had tried talking to him multiple times, but Leonardo just ignored him, Leonardo wanted to reflect on his life. _I was the Badger Lord's son, I was the Captain of the most powerful vessel on the ocean, and I was so close to ridding the seas of a menace._ He thought to himself, _Now, here I lie. I have been exiled from my home, mutinied by my crew, and defeated by my own weapon._

 _Will they remember me as a hero, a friend, a son? Or will I not be remembered at all? Faded into the sands of time and become nothing but a pile of sun-bleached bones on a tear-dropped island lost in a sea?..._

 _This hot sand is singeing my fur, thank the seasons I can't feel it. I don't think the effects will wear off anytime soon. Death will come before that. I... I..._ His trail of thoughts became hazy. He was losing his consciousness and struggled to stay awake. However, his efforts were in vain and he soon drifted into the realm of darkness. 

* * *

The _Nol and Runty_ descended slowly as it neared the island of Amijowi. Xoer took over 'black paw' duty for the landing. He opened and closed the steam valve of the boiler rhythmically and allowed a minimal amount of hot air into the balloon. This gave the airship a slow and gradual descent. Being the creature Xoer trusted the most with his airship, Maximus was steersbeast for the operation. Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn were switched to propellor duty. Most of the others (with the exception of the airsick mole, who stayed on his mat below deck) peered over the railing at the approaching island. This seemed to be a favorite activity for all onboard when they had the free time. The experience of flight was still something that they had not quite gotten used to, but they loved it nonetheless. Now that land was in sight, great happiness and relief was brought to them.

"A half degree to the West, Maximus!" Called out Dassiter from the bowsprit.

"Aye-aye, Dassiter, half degree to the West!" He said in return.

However, before the ship turned that half degree, the sharp eye of Marius caught something below, "Hold that first position, Maximus! I think I see a ship down on the beach behind the mountain!" This was then confirmed by Bellus, Ellyvin, and Gorm.

"Let us land there, on the beach by the boat. Mayhaps they could aid us wiz supplies?" Said Gorm in his thick voice.

"No, that's too big of a risk I'm willing to take." Said Maximus sternly, keeping his eyes forward. "I've learned that most all honest ships stick to the coastline of Mossflower. With a vessel this far out at sea, my gut tells me it's not gonna be a friendly ship."

"I agree with Maximus." Said Xoer, allowing the ship to sink further in altitude. "In fact, I think we better move out of their line o' sight afore they sees us. I'll go an' see if the ship is friendly or not later tonight, once we've landed safely."

"I'll come with you," Maximus said, "it's dangerous to go alone."

"Then it's settled!" Xoer stamped his footpaw on the deck and shouted below deck, "Ahoy, Ronar an' Kiril, why are we slowin' down? I need ye to pick up our speed double time!"

The squirrel twins turned the propellor's crankshaft as quickly as their slippery, oily paws would let them. The airship quickly fell in altitude and hid itself from view of the ship on the beach. Lower and lower it sank to the horizon as its destination neared.

"Xoer, we should land on the mountain's top. I know of a nice flat area behind the cover of some trees that'll help conceal the ship once we've landed, there's a load of colza flowers nearby that we can make into more oil, too." Said Dassiter.

"Sounds good to me, mate! You heard the bunny, Maximus! Take us over to the mountaintop!"

Dassiter stood bolt upright upon hearing the mongoose's remark. His ear tips showed bright red as he addressed him. A mouse that was standing next to Maximus at the wheel elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention,

"Heehee, watch this! Whenever Dassiter gets real mad like this, he forgets his normal speech an' starts talking like a staff sergeant from Salamandastron. It's the greatest thing in the world t' watch, see?"

"I say good sah! How dare ye call me a 'bunny'! As it is clear to everybeast else on this bloody ship, ah'm a _hare_ , wot!" An audible amount of chuckles and guffaws came from the creatures listening nearby. This did not improve Dassiter's mood by the least bit. He then shifted his attention to the crew, "Cut that laughter out this instant! Why, if we were back at Salamandastron, I'd have yer hides fer such behavior, wot! Come on now, back straight, shoulders back, eyes front, paws together, chest out— an' suck in yer stomach, Gorm, great seasons!" Everybeast watching the spectacle struggled immensely to keep their laughter in with such a scene unfolding in front of them. "Never 'ave I seen such unorganized behavior! An' look at this ship! I'll not be arriving at any island in such a pigsty, wot wot! Clean the deck, scrub the dishes, dust the mats an' polish the arms _on the double_!" This proved to be too much for the crew of the _Nol and Runty_. Laughter rang out loud and clear in the air as Dassiter stamped his foot and shouted above the noise, "Agh, you're all a hopeless lot, y'know that?! Ah don't have to take such behavior from lower ranks! Mayhaps Ill go talk with our airsick mole, I betcha he'll show some respect for a superior h'offica!" With this, the lanky hare marched off to the lower deck amid great laughter among the crew. Creatures all around rolled about and laughed until tears came from their eyes at what they had witnessed.

"Woohahahaha! How long 'as he done that for?!" Said Maximus to the mouse.

"Bahahahaha! As long as I've been a part o' the crew. Heeheehee! I've only seen it a pawful o' times. But hey, when ye do see it, it's quite a sight, eh?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Night took its time in coming. The _Nol and Runty_ made its landing atop the small mountain that dominated the landscape of Amijowi. Most everybeast went to bed upon landing. Dassiter took the watch with Ellyvin. They sat on the stairs leading up to the stern deck and ate from a small bag of fruits that they had quickly gathered.

"I don't like this island anymore." Said Ellyvin. "It brings back too many bad memories. Too many tears have been shed over the events that happened here."

"I was thinking the same. One could venture to say that this place was the root of poor Leo's madness. I shoulda just kept my mouth shut that night; would've saved us Runty an' a captain… and a _ship_." Replied the hare.

"Don't be hard on yourself, Dassiter. We were all going mad the moment we set out on this chase. It was starting to drive us all wild and just got to Leo first." She paused, "I think after spending so many seasons hunting, we became tired of waiting and wanted to give up. We wanted to move on with our lives but had no lives to go back to because most of us were the only survivors from our homes. So we all stuck with the ship as madness started closing in on all of us. Sooner or later one of us was going to snap, unfortunately that creature was our captain."

Dassiter wiped a tear from his eye and sniffled, "I... I have never done anything else other than hunt for this ship; it has consumed me entirely. I mean look at me, Ellyvin, I'm goin' on twenty seasons of hunting! I haven't seen my home in _twenty seasons_! What'll become o' me? I promised Leo that I'd return to Salamandastorn with him but I... I don't even know if he's alive or dead.

"What will happen to all of us, Ellyvin? Even if we do find _The_ _Cry of Amun_ and defeat its whole crew, what will we have to go back to? We'll be destroying the one thing that has kept all of us going for so long and we'll be without a purpose again! We lose either way."

There was a short pause where the two were silent. They could hear Maximus and Xoer getting ready to set out down the mountain to explore the ship on the beach. They made their way to the side of the vessel and threw a rope overboard, "We'll be back 'afore sunrise an' let ye know what we find." Said Maximus as Xoer climbed down the rope.

"Good luck," said Ellyvin.

Dassiter nodded to him, "Stay safe."

Soon the pair was gone into the night and Dassiter and Ellyvin were in silence again.

"You forget something, Dassiter," she said, "we will have each other to live and look out for. We've become a family. Once we catch the ship—"

" _If_ we catch the ship." He interrupted.

The otter maid looked down, "If we catch the ship, perhaps we'll stay together and roam the land, or find a place for all of us to settle. I know of a great place that'll accept a group of travelers like us.

"Ridding the seas of a menace won't take away our will to live, it will give us a new one."

"What'll that be?" Said Dassiter, wiping another tear in his eye.

Ellyvin wise eyes shone bright, "Peace."

Dassiter leaned back and sniffed. "Yeah, peace... I could use some o' that about now." 

* * *

Xoer and Maximus looked at the ship on the beach from the jungle's border. There was a dwindling fire with a couple of shadowy creatures sleeping around it.

Xoer whispered, "Hey, d' ye remember how you couldn't find me when we first met on Hsif-Drows?"

Maximus smiled and looked at him, "Camouflage!"

"Right ye are, me mate, but there's another trick to it. It's time that I teach you the practice o' slitherin' an' slidin'. It's what we snake-hunters use to sneak around unnoticed. I think I heard the bunny-rabbit talking 'bout somethin' similar… called 'bobbing an' weaving'. We won't need camouflage since it's so blinkin' dark out. So just follow behind me and do as I do, nothing more. Understand?"

Maximus nodded, "Lead the way, mate, I won't be far behind!"

Xoer Valderez the snake-slayer slithered through the camp just as a snake might. He slid over the soft sand, leaving not a single trace that he had been there. As Maximus mimicked his friend's movements to his best, he swore he heard the mongoose hiss like an adder as he twisted and turned around sleeping forms, finally stopping at one by the fire.

"Maximusssss, come here. I want you to ssssee thissssssss." Maximus nearly leaped out of his skin with fright at the sound of Xoer's voice. He had never heard him do that before. He creeped up further in the exact path that he watched Xoer take until he was next to him. There was a creature sleeping on the ground who was covered in a dark cloak. Firelight cast eerie shadows that danced on the face of the mongoose. Xoer looked different in this element; Maximus watched his face closely.

Suddenly, with lightning speed, Xoer pulled the cloak off of the creature. It was a searat and it was awake. It tried to sit upright with a shout, but it was stopped halfway. The rat's eyes were fixed in place and its body went stiff with horror before it could produce a sound. Looking at Xoer, Maximus found the reason why. The mongoose had his paw on the rat's chest, pushing it down. His eyes were wide and intense, "Be sssssstill, rat."

 _Great seasons_! Maximus nearly screamed with terror upon realizing what Xoer was doing. He was hypnotizing the rat with his stare! He watched as a forked tongue slipped in and out of his mouth with every word that left his scaly lips. The snakeskin tunic he wore became his true skin and the snake-fang necklace became his mouth. Xoer Valderez nearly transformed into a snake right before Maximus' eyes. Had the young otter not know that it was still his friend, Xoer, he would have sworn that he was looking at an adder.

Slowly the rat shut its eyes and fell back asleep. Xoer stayed low to the ground and hissed, "Sssssearatsssss, corssssairs, piratessssss. Thatsss what thisss bunch isssss."

"Xoer, were... What was tha–"

"Sssilence! Ye do not wish to ssstir the whole camp, do you? I sssay we keep looking around to ssssee who else issss here."

Maximus could hardly believe the words he was hearing. To watch what he had just witnessed again on other creatures, surely it was madness! But Xoer persisted and they continued through the camp. No other creatures in the camp had their faces covered, though. Maximus breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing this. But they were vermin, every one of them. However, on the way out of the camp, Maximus noticed something odd. "Xoer, wait. What about that one over there, it's a good twenty paces[1] from everybeast else. Perhaps we should check it out?"

"Asssss you wish." He hissed.

As the pair made their way closer, it appeared to be just another rat, but upon further examination… "Xoer, wait! This one's a mouse!" Whispered Maximus. His voice was full of intensity. "He looks pretty hurt, what did they do to 'im?"

"A prissssoner!" Said Xoer, "Quickly there'ssss no time to lossssse. We need to get it to ssssafety." Without further delay, Xoer flipped the mouse onto his back and began slithering into the woods. It looked like a mouse was riding piggy-back on a deadly adder! Once they were in the jungle a good ways, Xoer stood up and traveled as a normal creature. The snake illusion melted away and Xoer was back to being a mongoose again. Maximus could not help but to ask,

"Xoer, how did you do it: slither around on your stomach like a snake and hypnotize that rat? You were even talking like one!"

"There's quite a few things ye can learn from sssserpent– Ahem!.. Serpents. They are the masters of stealth an' manipulation. Once you understand them, you can _become_ them." He said, picking up his pace a bit.

"But that doesn't explain how you managed to hypnotize that rat." Exclaimed Maximus.

"It's a skill I have taught myself through observation. Most of it is the mentality. There have been other creatures who have had the power t' hypnotize, it's not just serpents an' adders. The most powerful I can think of was a pine marten named Emperor Ublaz. Now _he_ had a set of eyes to behold."

"How do you know that? Did you know him?"

"Well, in a way I suppose. But I won't talk about that further. Hurry up! We need to get back to camp, this un's gettin' heavy!" 

* * *

Ellyvin and Dassiter had just switched sentry duties when Maximus and Xoer returned to the airship. Tarsl Grudd the mole and Siri Luna the ottermaid had been informed that they would be returning and helped them aboard.

"Welcum back, zurrs!"

"Thanks Tarsl, could ye give me a paw with this un?"

"Shanna qwae! De farrn ik ook wald searat?!" Said Siri.

"Er, Mizz Luna be's roight, zurr. Why 'ave ye a corsair with ye? Phew! Ee smells rank!" He said with great disgust.

"It's not a rat, it's a _mouse_ , an' a pretty hurt un too! We need ye to wake Ellyvin an' have her see what she can do to fix 'im. I'll fill ye in on the events soon!"

Ellyvin was soon on the upper deck with a box of medicines, "I take it that was a searat vessel on the beach?"

"Yes marm, corsairs, the whole lot of 'em." Said Maximus.

"Then they'll be looking for him. Get him below deck, I need to be able to use candles without being seen out here."

Ellyvin had the mouse brought below deck and set him near the kitchen corner. While she hung reed mats from the ceiling to form a curtain that she could work behind, Maximus lit several small candles for lighting. She made sure to keep the patient on his stomach so she could operate on his back.

"Could you stay, Maximus? I could use an assistant." She said.

The young otter sat down by the creatures head.

"We'll have to clean him off before I can start applying any medicines. Grab me a cloth and salt some water to dip it in, quickly now! He doesn't have much time left."

Ellyvin dabbed the cloth on the creature's back; no sound escaped his lips. It took almost a half an hour just to clean the wound and get the sand and dirt out of the mouse's back. "Start cleaning the rest of him. Carefully, though. You don't want to disturb any other injuries he may have. Start with his head, make sure there are no major wounds there that need more attention than this un. Then work your way down.

The young otter worked quickly and carefully to clean the patient's face of dirt, grime and dried blood. It was easy to see why he was thought to be a searat at first. "Hey Ellyvin, it looks like he's been beaten pretty badly, see this big bump on his forehead?"

The ottermaid looked at where Maximus was pointing, but could not help but notice the mouse's handsome face. He looked like an actual mouse again! "Move your paw, Maximus." Said Ellyvin, "I want to see his whole face." Maximus did so wordlessly. Ellyvin clasped a paw to her mouth and let out a sob. Tears immediately started pooling in the corners of her eyes. Maximus had no idea what was going on,

"Miss Ellyvin? Ellyvin are you alright? Is something wrong?"

But the ottermaid could only cry. Finally getting herself together she said in a shaky voice, "Maximus, this is our captain, Leonardo Williams!"

Maximus was shocked to hear this, "But I was told he was dead! How is this possible?"

"I don't know, but you need to go wake Dassiter." she cried, "Go wake the Dassiter _right now_!"

* * *

[1] A pace is a unit of measurement in the world of Redwall. It translates to the length of a single stride, not a foot size.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

That night Ellyvin worked harder than she had ever done in her life. She worked straight on until morning stitching, wrapping, bandaging, anointing, cleaning and splinting. Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock watched the entire time. He doubted that it was the captain at first, but upon closer inspection, he could not deny the fact that it was Leonardo! Soon the whole crew was awake and wanting to see him. However, it started to become a distraction for Ellyvin and she asked that they waited above deck.

Xoer and Maximus had no idea that it was the captain they had rescued from the vermin. Everybeast wanted to know the full story. Maximus retold it as best he could, omitting the part where Xoer hypnotized the rat and appeared as a snake. Everybeast asked questions,

"How many were there?"

"Could you tell why they were here?"

"Hurr they'll be a noticin' his absence come dawn, they'll be a looking for 'im. What shudd we do?"

"Mi happa-ætar kom sokkabab sala sala?"

Maximus and Xoer answered all of them to the best of their knowledge but were soon overwhelmed. "Hold on, hold on! Now ah won't be able to hear yer questions an' you won't be able to hear my answers if yer all blabbing your mouths at once! One at a time now." Said Xoer sternly.

"How did you find him? Was he bound up?" Said Kiril Silverthorn.

"No, which is rather odd considering he was a fair distance away from the entire camp, just laying there in the sand unconscious. They must've thought he was dead." Said Maximus.

"Is he gonna pull through?" Said Marius.

"He wasn't looking good when Ellyvin saw him." Said Xoer. The crew looked very crestfallen at this comment. Maximus jumped in to try to save their spirits,

"But if there's anybeast who can save him, it's Ellyvin. I talked with her a bit during our voyage. She really knows her stuff when it comes to healing!" This had the desired effect.

"Listen, I think the best thing we can do right now is rest up and be available to Ellyvin's every request, since she's doin' the operation." Said Dassiter.

Gorm's heavy voice came through clearly, "And after that, we will teach those filthy scum a lesson about messing wiz zis bunch of seafarers!" A cheer of agreement came up from the crew.

"Quiet, quiet! Settle down, you'll wake the dead with that kind o' noise. We can't give away our position. Right now, those corsairs haven't the slightest clue Leo is missing. We need to keep it that way for as long as we can because we all know searats and they'll come looking for him. So let's stay on our toes and keep our eyes peeled in the meantime. 

* * *

A stoat by the name of Sorak sat on the beach at dawn cooking some gull eggs on a rock over a fire. His crewmate, Daekel, sat down opposite him and eyed the eggs hungrily.

"Oh no, not a chance! You go find yer own eggs ye greedy oaf, I got up an hour afore dawn to snatch these." Said Sorak.

"Hah, an hour afore dawn, my tail! I saw ye go into the jungle well after the sun came up!" Replied Deakel, "This island is plenny lush, I'm sure you could find more just as quick, so fork 'em over mate, I'm famished!"

Sorak leaned in over the fire towards Daekel and spoke quietly, "Alright shut yer trap! I'll give ye some– ah, ah, ah! Not so quick, ye gotta lemme finish. I'll give ye some if ye tell me what's goin' on with Deaker. He's actin' like he's seen a ghost!"

"Oh, Deaker? He's sayin' that an adder tried to eat 'im last night, pretty bizarre eh? He says he woke up, even got hypnotized, almost eaten, then jus' fell back asleep like nothin'. Makes no sense to me... Now gimme!" Daekel scooped one of the eggs off the stone plate and ate it sloppily. Meanwhile, his stoat compadre was shaking in his skin at the thought.

"An ad-d-der? Here?!"

"Aye, somebeast said they saw snake tracks in the sand, I think it's all a joke. But it ain't so funny, couldn't imagine what'd 'appen if Deamal heard about it."

"Heard about what, Daekel?" A cold shiver ran up Sorak and Daekel's spines at the sound of the icy voice. They turned around to look at the speaker, it was The Menace himself. Daekel struggled to find the right words to say. His paw strayed to the wounds on his back he received from being flogged during the 'Madbeast's Ghost' incident. Sorak cut in for him,

"Er... Food poisonin'! Deaker's got it bad ye see an'—"

Deamal's khopesh sword flashed like lightning, stopping a hairsbreadth away from Sorak the stoat's wet nose. "Don't lie to me, Sorak. Lying will not be tolerated amongst my crew." The pine marten's black eyes did not give any way to read how serious he was being.

Sorak looked at the blade, then into Deamal's empty eyes and let a brief second pass before saying, "An adder." The sword backed away slightly from Sorak's nose and he continued. He was not yet in the clear, "Some o' the crew believes there's a poison-tooth on the loose. Deaker claims to 've seen et last night, an' somebeast said they saw snake tracks early this mornin'."

"No bite marks or injuries?" Deamal said, sheathing his sword.

"No, my lord," said Daekel. "We counted our heads an' are all here, er, my lord."

"And my prisoner? Who has him?" He put a delicate paw on both of their shoulders. "Because I know for certain that my crew wouldn't take their eyes off of my prisoner. Right?" Sorak and Daekel winced with pain as Deamal drove his claws into their skin. They both said in unison,

"Yes, cap'n!"

"Then tell me why he isn't where I left him?"

Just then, Talom, who was now fully recovered, shouted aloud from across the beach as he hurried towards him, "Captain, captain, the prisoner has gone! There are tracks going into the jungle!"

Sorak and Daekel nearly screamed in pain as Deamal pushed his claws deeper into their skin with rage. His eyes nearly turned red with lividity and he roared with anger, "Find him! I want every single one of you wretched beasts in that jungle. Find him and bring him to me! How does a paralytic prisoner escape from under your noses?!"

A rat's voice called out, "Over here, captain. Looks like a riverdog picked 'im up. I guess there's more than jus' the mouse on this isle!" In an instant, The Menace was at the rat's side and examined the tracks carefully; his empty black eyes missed nothing.

"They left at about midnight by the looks of it. It's a young otter, male, but he was not alone... Looks like a snake was around here too, must be pursuing them as well... Well, what're ye standing there for all wide-eyed?! Drag yer filthy tail over to the ship an' get armed. We won't stop searchin' until I got that damn mouse's head hanging from the ship's spar!" The thunder of a storm rumbled in the distance and followed the same course as a score of deadly corsairs as they made their way through the thick jungles of Amijowi. 

* * *

Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock and Leonardo Velox Williams sat together in the same room for the first time since long before the _Seaspark_ sank. Dassiter was the first creature he was willing to talk to upon waking up. The pair sat alone below the deck of the _Nol and Runty_ and conversed. Dassiter explained his half of the story in great detail and did his best to reach out to his friend and comfort him as he heard what Leonardo had to say.

"He whispers horrible things to me, Dassiter. Horrible, horrible things! Just the other night while I sat by my fire he... he told me to jump into it. He yelled and cursed at me and called me horrible names. Whenever he was silent, noises of battle and storms at sea flew around in my head. I scratched and clawed at my ears to get it out, but it would not! 'Do it, you dirty rat!' He would scream. The fire was only just in front of me. I was so close; I was certain my fur would singe from the heat. I thought, 'would it stop with this, or will I be jumping off of a cliff next, or hanging from a tree tomorrow?' But the noise, the yelling it was becoming too much for me to hold! I felt like if I didn't do what Simon was telling me, he'd fill my head with so much chaos that my head would explode!"

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Leo. I wish there was something I could have done. Believe me, if it were within my power, I would make you well again but I don't know what to _do_ … The crew an' I, we missed you terribly, Leo. If there's anything you can hold on to t' keep yerself goin', think o' the crew. It was like a rain cloud was over everyone's head when you were gone. We only want t' free you from this madness." Dassiter reached over to put a reassuring paw on his friend's shoulder, who appeared to only ignore what Dassiter had said.

"The only times I have slept are when I collapse from exhaustion. The only times I can ignore it all is when I am about to die. I can only eat for a few hours every few days when the nausea subsides and my stomach unfurls from its crimped knots… I claw my ears, yell and scream, bang my head on rocks, but I cannot kill the madness. Simon has consumed me whole and I'm trapped inside of him until I die."

Ellyvin had listened closely to the conversation happening below deck. She sat on the staircase to the lower deck with perked ears. The rest of the crew stood behind her waiting to hear what she could relay. They whispered amongst themselves and shuffled awkwardly in place with an uncomfortable eagerness. The ottermaid backed up the stairs quietly and turned to the others. She said with a sigh, "Poor Leo, he's not the same; he's completely mad and knows it. He claims to hear a voice in his head named 'Simon' as well as several other noises. I'm afraid he'll never be the same unless a miracle happens." With this news, she went back to listening by the staircase.

"Do you have any idea as to what the origins of Simon are? Maybe if we can figure that out, we can help you." Said Dassiter. He sat on the ground with his legs criss-cross style and leaned into what Leonardo had to say.

"Part of me thinks he's always been there, and just woke up after half a lifetime of events. It doesn't matter where he came from, I want him gone! Aye, pal, madness is something you should never wish upon anybeast ever."

"Could you tell me what else has happened since we separated, besides Simon? How did ye get captured?"

Leonardo was quiet for a moment before answering. "It was Deamal, Dassiter. I took out as many of his as I could, but I was stabbed in the back with my own weapon. They're on the island, and they're looking for me now." Dassiter's eyes went wide with amazement.

"Deamal? That was Deamal's ship– Deamal is... Here?!"

"Can you hear them coming, Dassiter? I've heard the whole crew coming for some time now. I can hear every one of their footsteps getting louder and louder." Thunder rumbled from nearby and immediately Dassiter could hear yelling from the outside of the ship. Leonardo lowered his head, "Oh, that'd be them now…"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Dassiter rushed to the upper deck to find the crew scrambling to grab their arms. Dark thunderheads blotted out the sunlight like a curtain of lead and left the island in almost complete darkness. The wind whipped raindrops into the faces and eyes of the _Nol and Runty_ 's crew. Yells and hollers from Deamal's corsair crew were echoed by the heavy sounding thunder. Soon, everybeast stood ready to defend the ship with their weapons of choice. Gorm wielded a large, double-bladed battle ax; Bellus and Ellyvin notched arrows to their bows; Dassiter brandished his cutlass; the squirrel twins Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn loaded their slings and waited with much apprehension; Maximus gripped his patina covered spear; Xoer stood beside him with his teeth and claws barred; Tarsl Grudd, Brian, and Jacques all had swords drawn and at the ready; Siri Luna whirled a flail and chanted tribal rituals; Marius the otter towered over the others and carried a club big enough to down a badger; and the rest of the crew stood with similar arms arrangements, numbering just about a score in all.

The enemy's battle cries grew in volume as Dassiter strode across the deck, standing tall against the rain and wind as he addressed the crew, "This is it chaps, the moment we've been waiting our lives for! This crew belongs to a ship called _The_ _Cry of Amun_. In just a few moments, The Menace himself is gonna come out o' that jungle with a full bunch o' corsairs with 'im. We have done our waiting, fought to the gates o' hell and back and now our time has arrived! Strike with a ferocity that would put an army o' blinkin' bloodwrathed badgers to shame! Today is the day we avenge our families and friends who have fallen to this beast. Strike hard, an' strike true!"

"Strike hard, strike true!" The crew echoed back to him in the same voice as the thunder around them.

The wind howled and lightning illuminated the island like flashes of sunlight. Everybeast felt the thunder in their chest as it tumbled through the sky with the billowing clouds. Large raindrops moved together in the wind like schools of fish in the ocean dodging predators. The yells and screams from the corsairs grew to a deafening volume.

Lighting tore the sky in two and the first of the corsairs emerged from the jungle. It was Deamal, and he was quickly followed by his full crew behind him. They crashed into the clearing, arrows whizzed over their heads at the crew of the _Nol and Runty_. Bellus released her arrow at the pine marten. Deamal leaped high into the air, spun around and chopped the arrow down with his great khopesh sword. Upon landing, he rushed the ship with an even greater speed, his vermin crew close behind him. They leaped onto the ship and clashed with the defending crew.

The battle had begun!

The scene quickly became chaotic. The _Nol and Runty_ 's defenders fought with incredible ferocity and were met with a force that was equal to their own. Heavy casualties occurred left and right for both crews, but the battle raged on. Gorm slashed and swung with his battle-ax at the weasel who had slain his family. The weasel blocked and dodged around his blows easily, returning them with hard hits from his mace. Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn fought in front of the archers and swung their slings around like clubs at any who came near. However, despite their efforts, they began losing ground. They fought on courageously but could not keep the corsairs at bay. The vermin broke through their defense and charged the unsuspecting archers. Talom the ferret swung a scimitar towards Bellus. She fell horribly wounded. But before he could move onto his next victim, Talom heard a mighty roar to his side. It was Marius the colossus! Marius swung his giant club once and sent Talom sailing through the air. He hit the ground and did not get back up again.

"Ellyvin, we need you to help out with the wounded. Bellus won't make it if you don't work quickly!" He said, picking Bellus up like a babe in one arm and swinging his club with the other. Ellyvin narrowly dodged an arrow and returned fire,

"I'm sorry, Marius, but this isn't a normal corsair crew. These uns are the best o' the best and we need every paw that can fight up here or we're all goners! Put her below deck."

Meanwhile, Xoer the mongoose slithered through the ranks with grace. He lashed out with his razor claws and bit with his strong jaws with unmatched speed and power. "Come to me corssssairs, look into the eyessss of your doom! Yeeheehee!" He hissed. An arrow hit him in the shoulder and knocked him back a pace, then another found its place in his thigh. Hissing loudly with pain, Xoer snapped the arrows off and charged the archers on all fours.

Maximus fought surprisingly well. He held his own with a bulky weasel, who was also armed with a spear. They swung them around like bo-staffs and exchanged hard hits. The young otter fought for his family and his holt, Vydra. He fought for Raoul and for Xoer. He fought for his life and for those around him. He swung his spear around until it was a blur and met his opponent's staff with a shower of sparks, which were quickly ousted by the falling rain.

Tarsl Grudd, Brian, and Jacques fought against each others' backs and moved in circles. They swung their swords high and low and to great effect. But the corsairs pressed on and soon the group was fighting on the defensive.

"Keep a-goin', zurrs! We c'n do 't! Jus' un more final push t' end et all!"

Just when it seemed the trio was going to go under, Siri Luna jumped into the fray! She swung her flail about with a stunning effect.

"Kiki swalla noka ta! Strike a' hard! Strike a' true!"

"Strike hard, strike true!" They chanted back. They chanted loud and clear so everybeast around them could hear. A surge of strength went through the crew of the _Nol and Runty_ and helped push the battle in their favor.

Dassiter de Fformelo Tussock swung his cutlass around and downed a stoat that was sneaking up on him. He fought with the skill of a Long Patrol hare from Salamandastron. Wiping the sweat from his eyes, he found his target in the crowd: Deamal! The pine-marten was making quick work of all those around him. The khopesh sword sliced through the wind and rain and felled all who stood before it. None could match his skill for too long!

"Eulaliaaaa! S'death on the wind!" The time-honored war cry of Salamandastron sounded from Dassiter as he leaped high over the battle and swung his cutlass at the pine marten's head. Steel clashed against steel midair and the hare landed in front of his opponent. Both creatures battle fiercely in the center of the ship. To and fro they exchanged jabs, sweeps, and lunges. The deadly blades moved around each other in a dance of death. Dassiter soon found himself with the upper paw in the fight. Pushing Deamal into the railing with his strong hind legs, he went in for a lunge at his foe. The pine marten dodged by hardly an inch and knocked the cutlass out of his paw with one strong swoop of his sword. He then followed with a stab at the hare's center, who fell without a sound.

"Hah, I almost thought you to be worthy of facing me. But you forget one thing, my friend, I am Deamal the Menace!" Spitting on the fallen hare, Deamal rejoined the brawl.

Leonardo could move now. He struggled to get up at first, but soon got the hang of it. The battle outside sounded fearsome and his adrenaline rush made him eager to join the fray. Teetering back and forth, he moved his limbs until he could feel them again. First he walked, then he ran, then he jumped and leaped. His tail flopped around behind him and threw his balance off, so he picked it up and tied it around his waist so it would not get in his way. "Feel like Cluny[1], doing this." He murmured to himself. Going to the now greatly depleted stack of arms in the corner of the lower deck, he searched through the tiny pile for something that he could use. He cursed aloud as there was nothing he saw fit to wield other than a small boot-knife. It would have to do. Turning about, he saw a creature coming down the narrow stairs. Sticking to the shadows, Leonardo watched. It was Marius and he was carrying something on his back. He watched as he laid it down on a mat gently, and quickly jumped up the stairs back to the battle. Leonardo emerged from the shadows and approached the figure. It was Bellus; she was hurt! Stumbling to her side, Leonardo looked at the gruesome wound on her side. He ripped his sleeves off and covered it up to the best of his ability but he knew that it was all in vain. His beloved Bellus was gone. Tears filled Leonardo's eyes as he cradled her head. A sob protruded from his heaving chest, "Oh, why does it have to be everything that I love!" The tears of sadness Leonardo shed quickly turned red with rage at the sounds of the battle above. He set Bellus down carefully and ran up the stairs and onto the main deck.

The mad captain fought with an unprecedented power. He kicked and punched and bit his way through those in front of him. Picking up a cutlass from a fallen beast, he pounced on his foes like a tiger. No amount of noises or commands Simon filled his head with could keep Leonardo from obtaining his goal of putting an end to Deamal. Hacking his way through the ranks, Leonardo echoed the chanting of those around him, "Strike hard! Strike true!" The battle was dead even, almost identical casualties were on each side of the opponents' crews. "Deamal, I am coming for you! There's nowhere to run to where I won't find you. There is no refuge for you to take in the farthest corners of the world where you won't be discovered. I have said this promise a thousand times and I will say it again, I will find you and I will kill you if it means even my own destruction as well! This is the vow of the mad captain! Strike hard, strike true!"

Soon, Leonardo found his prey and came at him with full force. Lightning ripped the sky in two as their blades clashed for the first time. The roars that came from the mouse's mouth pushed him forward against Deamal and drove him back. Deamal kept cool, however, knowing that no creature could keep up such a fury of attacks without tiring. Sure enough, Leonardo tired and the pine marten gained the upper paw of the fight. Very shortly thereafter, Leonardo was overwhelmed and it was clear that Deamal would win. He easily disarmed the mouse and knocked him to the ground. Stepping on his chest so that he would not move, Deamal leaned in close.

"Never before has a creature caused me so much grief. Never before has a single beast managed to cause so much trouble among my crew. I will squash you like the bug you are!" Still pinning Leonardo down, Deamal raised his khopesh sword high in the air. "You were no match for The Menace, you never stood a— gaah!"

The tip of a bronze spear protruded from Deamal's chest. He tumbled forward with the momentum and fell to the deck. Leonardo stood up feebly and wiped blood off of his chin. He made his way to the pine marten and stood over him, boot-knife in paw. Deamal now laid on the deck in front of him with a spear through his center. He laughed and coughed a bit of blood, "You... you can't defeat me, I'm The Menace!" He coughed some more. "Never has one creature brought me so much... _hatred_!"

"Never has one beast brought so many so much pain." Said Leonardo. "You have lived your life as a coward, Deamal. Ye never were brave enough to face a beast, always attacking from behind and stabbing 'em in the back. Now today you will die as the coward you have lived. Look around at where your mighty crew lay slain, now locked behind hell's gates. Those who you and your lot have killed will rest easy knowing you're rotting down there with 'em."

Deamal looked about himself to find it true, he was the only one of his crew left. "How... No— no this is not possible! I am Deamal— _I am The Menace_!" He said with an absolute stunned disbelief. The rain washed away the dirt and grime that covered Leonardo's body and exposed him as a sight familiar to Deamal, "No, it's _you_! You're the one from my dreams! Go away, I'm not asleep." He made a weak attempt to crawl away from Leonardo, but it was not good enough. He tried kicking at him from the ground, "Get back. Get away from me! Who are you?!" He exclaimed.

Stepping further towards Deamal with the knife in his paw, Leonardo chanted, "Vengeance, we are vengeance, we are vengeance..." 

* * *

Birds chirruped in the warm morning air. The tear-shaped island of Amijowi was a scene of mourning. While disposing of the vermin crew into the ocean and before burning down the _Cry of Amun_ , many found old treasures that had belonged to their families or friends. Xoer found his friend Nol's hourglass in rough shape, but still working! Several others found paw-rings, necklaces, silks and even scrolls that had been taken from their loved ones. However, it was Maximus that found the unexpected: his father's champion spear fishing medallion inside of the former captain's quarters. Deamal had been to his holt! The realization hit him with great force. "It must've happened just after he sunk the _Fenero_." He said, "What if I'm the only one left of holt Vydra? I need to go back, what if there's survivors and they need me?" The young otter was immediately supported by the rest of the crew, who surrounded him and promised to accompany him on a journey to his holt once matters were sorted out.

After everybeast had their possessions returned, the ship was burned and the corsair bodies were disposed of, the bodies of their fallen comrades were laid across the clearing at the top of the small mountain. It was beautiful. One would not be able to tell that a battle had occurred there just the day before. The sky opened up wonderfully and sunlight spilled in from the heavens, bouncing off of the wet grass and great sea. It was like having thousands of tiny crystals scattered over the land. Small graves were dug and stones and crosses set above them. Lastly, a large boulder was placed in front of all of them and a message was engraved on it which still remains there today. It reads:

 _Here our beloved friends lie,_

 _Slain in a battle to save the seas from a menace._

 _You will always have a place in our hearts._

 _In memory of:_

 _Runty Simon Dutton_

 _Bellus Krásny_

 _Brutus Holmen_

 _Raoul Heavytail_

 _Tenzin Abhaya_

 _Barry Mole_

 _Siri Luna_

 _Nel Muller_

 _Mary Rosen_

 _Gordon Yalt_

 _Wendell Lightpaws_

 _And all of the others slain in the fight for peace._

 _May the sun always shine upon you,_

 _My friends brave and bold,_

 _Until we meet again,_

 _On the great seas of gold._

Soon the airship was restocked and the burial ceremonies completed. Hot air once again filled the great balloon above the _Nol and Runty_ and everybeast was onboard. Well, except for one.

Leonardo Williams still stood over the grave of Bellus Krásny with a single forget-me-not flower clutched to his chest. He wiped a tear from his eye with his arm and placed the flower on her grave. "Please forgive me." He took some time to reflect upon the time he had spent in her company. From the moment she agreed to join the search for the Menace and come aboard ten seasons earlier, to the day he professed love for her and she for him, to the many times when she teased him about his horrid mapmaking techniques. All of the arguments, struggles, surprises and laughter. Nobody on the _Seaspark_ ever knew about their relationship, it was always kept a tight secret. They had even planned to marry after the whole ordeal was over, but it was written in their fates never to happen. He wished with all of his being that he could see her one last time, even if just for a moment. Just enough time to tell her how sorry he was for what he had done to the crew, or hear her beautiful laugh again. "You will always have a place in my heart. And don't you fret because someday I'll join you and we can be happy once more, and I will be better, too. Our mission is complete and they will hurt no one ever again. So rest peacefully, my dear, I'll see you soon." With this, he boarded the ship, but did not stop looking back.

The vessel rose from the ground with a groan, and the group was once more sailing through the sky. The atmosphere aboard the _Nol and Runty_ was very mixed. The crew had so much to take in, they had finally completed their task of destroying the corsairs, but they had lost so many close friends that they did not know whether to be happy or sad. So each of them absorbed the information differently than others. Some discussed plans of what they would do once they landed, some cried for the lost, and some sat blankly and did not know what to do.

A clean looking Leonardo made his way to the bow of the airship with the aid of only a bamboo cane. He stopped and talked to creatures along the way, all of whom, surprisingly, greeted him with open arms. He stopped and talked to Maximus in particular, who was leaning on the guardrail and looking at his father's spear fishing medallion. He had learned that it was him who had thrown the spear and had saved his life. "That was quite the shot, pal. What you did back there, I'd be slain if it weren't for you... Er, what I should be sayin' is... thank you. Thank you very much for doing what you did, you're a real hero and a brave warrior."

The young otter chuckled and shook Leonardo's paw warmly, "I guess now I can say Raoul didn't die in vain, and he can rest in peace with the others now. But I ain't no warrior, was never meant for me. Perhaps just a simple fisher who got lucky with his throw is all."

"Well, regardless of what ye are, you have my eternal gratitude." Replied Leonardo and he walked away. He soon found his way to Dassiter's side, who shifted his weight onto a crutch he had been forced to use due to his wounds. "I believe this is yours." He said and handed the hare his cutlass. "It's all done mate." Said Leonardo.

Dassiter chuckled and accepted his cutlass, "So that's where it went, eh? Glad you found some use in it… You realize what all o' this means, right? We can return to Salamandastron like the heroes we've always wanted to be. Lord Barbourn will accept you unconditionally. Leo, after almost twenty season of hunting we can go home and be at peace, actual peace!"

"Aye, I just wish I could have done things differently. Redo the whole thing and make it better. Poor Runty… I killed him, Dassiter. There's nothing I can do about it. It's this damn Simon, he won't get outta my head. I left Salamandastron an outcast and return a madbeast, is that truly any better?"

Dassiter put a reassuring paw on his friend's shoulder, "Look, Leo, no matter who ye are, everybeast wishes they could've done something differently. But you can never change the past, that's just how it is and how it will always be. Time moves on whether we're ready for it or not. As for Simon, I know of a place, which we're headed to right now, that'll be able to help you keep him under a tight lead."

Leonardo's head perked up upon hearing this, "You really mean it, Dassiter, they'll actually be able to help me? Where is it?"

The hare returned Leonardo's large smile, "Aye mate! Ellyvin told me the name of it this morning. It's just the place for an oddball group like us that's full of a lovely bunch o' kind creatures, wonderful food an' the greatest hospitality and infirmary in the land. It's a nice little place we call Redwall Abbey."

The great airship's propeller spun with much force and pushed it farther East. Behind them, they left no wake, but a tiny island. A single tear lost in the vast expanses of the sea.

* * *

[1] See _Redwall_ by Brian Jacques.


End file.
